After Wednesday, Stephanie Stewart will only have three paid days off until June to take care of her 8-year-old son, Jeraiah.
His daycare will close this week, and she doesn’t have family that can look after him. So this mom will have to take unpaid time off.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday, the same day Kentucky had its first coronavirus death, that child care centers would need to close by the end of the day Friday. That has left Kentucky parents scrambling to balance work and childcare.
"Well, I’ll definitely be short on making money," Stewart said. “But my husband will be able to help cover most of the bills because he will still get paid no matter what. But I don’t want to put all that stress on him for long.”
It’s tough for a lot of parents, she said.
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“In Bullitt County, school-age kids, their child care source was the YMCA. And with that being shut down, that means they also have to find something to do for spring break when a lot of people (were) relying on the YMCA being open. So yes, three weeks is a long time if you don’t have the extra people who can help out.”
It's a similar story for other families. Tiffany Howard's sister is watching her 6-year-old. But on Friday, her 4-year-old and 2-year-old will be headed to their aunt's as well.
When Beshear announced that daycares had to close Friday, Howard said she wasn’t surprised: “I knew it was coming.”
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“With everybody being in one spot, especially the kids, they’re Petri dishes anyway,” she said. “It’s not very good for parents, but we gotta do what we gotta do.”
She'd much rather schools be over-cautious than under-cautious, she added.
Howard, who works at Asmark Institute in Owensboro, said her company may allow people to start working from home if needed.
“If it comes down to it where I need to take days off and my sister can’t help, we’re gonna be hopefully able to work from home. They’re gonna work with us because nobody can help it.”
Howard’s sister, a stay-at-home mom, is caring for six children right now.
"As soon as she found out that the schools were closing, she called me right away and said 'Hey, don’t worry about finding a place for your kid. I’ll take care of them,'" Howard said.
That’s a common story in some mom communities. Stay-at-home moms are stepping up and taking in their friends’ children as a global pandemic hits close to home.
Clara Woods, a University of Kentucky student and a mother, said she's also noticed stay-at-home moms posting in Facebook groups that they'll help out.
Mikayla Mitchell, another University of Kentucky student who has a toddler, said student mothers are especially struggling right now. Universities moving to online courses and daycares closing make for a struggle.
"It will be a lot more challenging for me to get my work done because I rarely ever do work at home with my toddler because he makes it almost impossible," Mitchell said.
She also needs to focus on scholarship interviews and now has to look for someone to watch her son, Judah.
Jayne Bishop and her husband are cobbling together childcare, too. A couple of days with her in-laws, a day with her mom and what’s left of the week with a daycare employee who offered to help.
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The Fincastle mom works in healthcare and has been paying close attention to COVID-19. The couple are trying to work remotely and stay on top of conference calls while wrangling a 2-year-old.
Elmo only keeps his attention for so long. He needs snacks. He wants to play. And he’s teething.
Bishop supports the closures recommended by the governor because she understands the risks of the virus, but it’s tough.
“I think everybody is in that weird sort of holding pattern where you make a plan for a couple of days or maybe two weeks and then you’re like, ‘OK, I just have to be confident that I have that plan for now,'" Bishop said.
"But if one these people gets sick, our plan is chaos," she added. "And so I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for that, too, because what are the odds that we’re all going to stay well?”
Reach breaking news reporter Sarah Ladd at sladd@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ladd_sarah. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe. Kristina Goetz is the narrative editor at the Courier Journal. If you have a great story you think we should write, Kristina can be reached at kgoetz@courierjournal.com or (502) 582-4713.
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Kentucky parents are scrambling to find child care amid coronavirus. Moms come to rescue - Courier Journal
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