[kearnyirish2]

I pity parents who have to drop their kids off like that; here in NJ it is very common because the cost of living is too high. I’d rather be poor; my wife works part-time even now that the kids are teens, and when they were born she took long leaves. Thankfully we had family to care for the kids when she was unable to; she wouldn’t have worked at all if we didn’t (and she welcomed the chance a couple of times a week to have adult interaction).

This situation is having a disastrous impact demographically.

[BykrBayb]

When are you going to escape from there? Shall we set up a gofundme to cover the tolls?

[proud American in Canada]

I totally understand. I grew up in Chicago and my best friend had to leave at 6 o'clock in the morning to get the train to go downtown to work. She got home around 7 because the commute was a b****. You'll never get that time back with your little ones​... It is so great that you had extended family to help. I am sure that they will treasure that time or in some way, they will remember that. My father paid for a townhouse that was about two blocks away from where I grew up. For his mother and father. Some of my best memories are of spending time around my Babi's kitchen table. When I got my first job working in a factory, at about 16, the first thing I did with my first paycheck was buy my grandmother a huge bag of groceries. I still remember reading The Enquirer on her kitchen table with her. She was a lovely lady. :-)