>but yeah it can be difficult to see
>something until it affects you and your wallet.

I have a 13 year old and a 7 year old. Back in 2008 when my oldest was a baby I was SHOCKED at how expensive childcare was. At that time we were paying around $1200 per month, for a PART TIME schedule of three days per week. My parents took care of him for the other two days. And this was for a middle of the road daycare in our area - not one of the best at all, but not one of the cheaper daycares.

That being said, the crazy thing is that it doesn't stop when they start going to school. My youngest is in 2nd grade now, and we have to pay $200 per week, so over $800 per month for his before/after school care which is at his elementary school. And don't even get me started on how expensive child care is during the Summer for daycare programs. And having two kids at once? We thought that waiting 6 years for our second kid would make sense from a childcare perspective, but didn't realize we'd be covering child care for our oldest through 6th grade.