This whole finding things to be thankful for is harder than it looks, especially these last few months. I feel very much like I'm stuck in some hell dimension, where everyone around me is sick and needy, and they are sucking the life right out of me. Frances, Ian, and now Mary...it's just never ending. In better news, Frances has been referred to a pediatric allergist in Saskatoon for her constant sicks. I just spoke to the receptionist and we have an appointment booked for April 15th. Also, I finally made an appointment with the family doctor for the terrible gastrointestinal issues which have been plaguing me for months, but I've not had time to worry about because I've been so busy caring for others.
I'm not even going to go into the terrible money problems we are having right now, other than to say that I don't know how people do it, and I don't know what we are going to do or how we are going to carry on this way. I could get a job, but because I have no education beyond high school, the best I can hope for is a low paying retail job. As I learned in the fall, I'm unlikely to find something that will make it worth my while after paying for daycare and gasoline to get too and from work. If I'm going to work, which is something I don't want to do in the first place, it's going to have to be worth it. I'll need to bring in at least as much as we get in our child tax benefit (which I'll lose when I start working) after paying for daycare and gas. Huh. I guess I did go into it a little bit after all.
Last night I went to my first punk rock concert! It was quite an enjoyable experience, though I have absolutely no voice this morning.
On to my Grace in Small Things:
1. The fact that we have a medical system in this country where I can take my sick children to the doctor without worrying about going bankrupt.
2. The fact that anyone in this country can do the above.
3. Scottish Punk Rockers with pierced nipples, tattoo's, bagpipes and kilts.
4. The snowman named Walter melting away in my front yard, and my husband and daughters pride at successfully making their first ever snowman.
5. The thick ice fog that just appears in the evenings, blanketing everything with white, muffling sounds, and leaving a beautiful thick frost on the trees in the morning.
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Various observations on life from inside the invisible jail of motherhood.
9 comments:
Really, We'd be rich if we had socialised medicine-instead our policy is going up another hundred bucks a month. USA!USA!
So who are the band?
We would be absolutely broken if we had to pay a hundred dollars a month for medical insurance on top of all our other expenses.
The band is Real McKenzies, a Scottish punk band out of Vancouver, of all places. They were fantastic, and I find myself imagining what I would look like with a mohawk and two very adorable, kilted pipers on my arms.
That's another hundred atop the hundreds we already pay...blech. It is robbery, considering L's company is already footing half the bill for employees-if he lost his job we'd be dead (or I would anyway). We still have outrageous co-pays to see a doctor (25 bucks a visit) and on medications. I just left the pharmacy with a bill for 90 dollars for two medications-and that was with the insurance.
I'm gonna shut up now because I have my own blog for complaining ;)
I'll have to do a bit of web listening-it sounds like the sort of thing I'd like.
Now that I read this again, it sounds like I'm making light of your problems-which i'm not. I hope you didn't take it that way.
Word verification just gave me "bootylump."
Absolutely not! It's important to be reminded that things could be worse. I don't even have to cast my thoughts as far as Africa anymore to feel bad for people and to worry about people and to be reminded how lucky we really are.
The USA frightens me on a variety of fronts, not the least of which is the health system. YAY CANADA.
Anne and I found the Real MacKenzies online. While we were accessing their musically goodness, we also found out they were playing at Suburbs "this very minute". Alas. Glad you got to see them.
As it turns out, we are going to see the Real MacKenzies on Thursday night!
That ROCKS! I wish I could go with you. Have fun, and be careful. There tends to be Lots 'o Dong flashed at the crowd.
Child Tax benefits are available to all parents regardless whether you work or stay home. FMI Go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/cctb/fq_qlfyng-eng.html#q4
4. Can I get the Canada Child Tax Benefit?
To get the CCTB, you must meet all the following conditions:
you must live with the child, and the child must be under the age of 18;
you must be the person who is primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of the child;
This means you are responsible for such things as supervising the child's daily activities and needs, making sure the child's medical needs are met, and arranging for child care when necessary. If there is a female parent who lives with the child, we usually consider her to be this person. However, it could be the father, a grandparent, or a guardian.
you must be a resident of Canada; and
you or your spouse or common-law partner must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, a protected person, or a temporary resident who has lived in Canada for the previous 18 months.
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