00:00.00 archpodnet Walking with the show. Everyone joining me today is Heather in Southern California Bill in St Croix and Doug in Scotland all right? so. 00:05.47 Heather Hi everyone. 00:09.69 Bill White Hello. 00:13.71 Doug Hi y'all. 00:19.10 archpodnet You guys don't know this the ones that are listening to the show here but we are actually recording about you know Fifteen twenty minutes late today and Doug I think you've got the reason for us the the topic of the day. So. 00:29.98 Doug Yes, yeah, yeah, so the reason I'm late is because of children. Um, and that's the topic of our archer our um episode today children in archeology. Um, how do you do it or don't as the case may be for some of us. Um, but I believe. 00:44.14 archpodnet Indeed. 00:47.81 Doug As Chris is the only childless person on the ah on the podcast today you have apparently some strong opinions. You'd like to give us us us poor folk who who have children in archeology. 00:59.83 archpodnet Listen I just I just want to know we record this for everybody that's listening here. We record this on a Sunday morning for most of the people on the show except for Doug where it's 8 hours away from now. So. It's like 4 something in the afternoon almost 5 over in Scotland and. I just got to know like this is only an hour it's an hour once every two weeks it's it's point zero one percent of your time for the entire two weeks and yet and yet it seems like kids always take a factor in not just not just you doug. But anytime I'm dealing with like somebody else with children and I know they have a partner. I don't know what time of day it is I don't know what their situation is but it seems like they can't come up with a time when they don't have to personally deal with the kids. They're still doing it while they're on the show and I'm like can't you just like get some help like what's going on there. Ah. 01:44.94 Doug Yeah, oh wow Chris yeah man. 01:49.41 Bill White ah ah ah ah yeah yeah and not only that Chris but that is the help if we don't raise it who's going to take care of you when you're old. 01:54.85 Heather And those are fighting words. Um. 01:57.12 archpodnet I know just saying it's 1 hour 1 hour that's all I'm saying. 02:03.53 Bill White That's your incipient help. 02:03.56 Doug Yeah, dude. Oh ah, oh man I'm ah throw outt some stats on this like so so like for like my public archeology stuff like I had to look this up for a while ago for a presentation and all this thing like there's this huge thing and like you know. 02:06.61 archpodnet Do it. 02:06.71 Heather Um, and. 02:18.66 Doug So if you go to like your state society archeology society in the states or your your local society. You know your city one or I know Pennsylvania has like a dozen like regional ones or something like that and in the u k there's there's hundreds of these ones and and and the age. 02:28.13 archpodnet Sure. 02:34.84 Doug The average age is probably like pushing 70 out a lot of these things. It's like a lot of older people and um, everyone's like oh yeah, yeah, there's such a like I swear to god every few years as a survey and people are like oh the average age is like 68 70 they're going to die off. How are we going to keep all these groups going. Of course you know it's been twenty years of this and the reason is because you know once you retire you actually have time to have like um passions and stuff like that I actually looked up the stats and like. 03:10.66 Doug People people who are retired have something like a ridiculous 30 hours per week of like leisure time and then the the one the 1 group that has the least of like all the demographics are women with children and their leisure time is like. Half an hour so Chris when you're asking like um, yeah, why can't we just find an hour bed like that's double double the leisure time that people with I so I should I shouldn't say that because like fathers get not every father and it's not you know. 03:32.15 Bill White So. 03:40.54 Bill White Um. 03:48.55 Doug Depends of relationships but usually women take the brunt of childcare. Um, so like yeah, they're the least so like maybe maybe a father might have like an hour but um yeah man like statistically statistically there is no time. 03:53.80 archpodnet Um, okay so like. 04:01.40 archpodnet Um, perfect Doug that's perfect Doug Doug you're not a woman and all I'm asking for is an hour but 04:03.94 Bill White Yeah, well, um, there's those stats are probably those are probably including the the time that we're in the bathroom I Think that's what they're putting is the male leisure time is just that right because we go in there and lock the door and just hide with our head in our. 04:11.44 archpodnet Sure. 04:20.38 Bill White You know on our knees and just with our face in our hands just I don't want to go back out there I don't want to go I mean this show this show. Ah yeah, this show is only really possible because my wife did for many years when my kids were little ah occupy him. 04:20.83 archpodnet Right? right? Oh my god. 04:22.78 Doug Who the the so the silent weeping there bill the silent weeping. 04:37.85 archpodnet Um, yeah. 04:39.24 Bill White You know, find some kind of a way for them and and I when I was in Arizona I literally used to sit in a closet and record the podcast and I could hear him knocking on the door trying to find me and I I would just hide in there to find that hour that's how you do it either you hide under the bed you hide in the closet you lock the door in the bathroom and hide. 04:44.38 archpodnet I Know yeah. 04:57.43 Bill White If you don't hide. You're not going to. You're only going to be on that thirty thirty minute you know free time thing when they're little then when they get then when they get older. It's awesome because then you have tons of time because they don't want to have anything to do with you and now all the shit that you didn't do for like 14 years while they were little you now have to do. 05:02.20 archpodnet Um, well and Doug I understand I understand ah. 05:14.53 Bill White Every day Otherwise the whole ship's going to sink. 05:17.24 archpodnet Right? right? and doug you I understand not really having ah a separate space to record in because you live in the uk so you probably live in a 125 square foot you know studio apartment like everybody else does there, you know unless you're rich. It's like one direction of the other. Yeah, exactly. 05:30.60 Doug Oh dude I'm not millionaire. Um, ah that looks massive what where yeah like American ah versions of like space and. 05:35.43 archpodnet That's massive. Ah. 05:45.99 archpodnet But my RV is probably bigger than your apartment I know true. 05:46.30 Doug Ah, like rooms and softs what triple digits you know, like like we kind of semi are joking here but honestly like how how many? yeah. 05:46.28 Bill White Ah. 05:52.88 Bill White Um. 06:00.48 Doug You do square meters how how many square meters is your your Rv there Chris. Okay. 06:02.15 archpodnet Let me do a conversion real quick. Let me do a conversion. Let's see three energy 30 about thirty two Square meters 06:10.70 Bill White Um, five hundred Square feet six hundred Square feet 06:16.60 Bill White Um, okay. 06:17.10 Doug Ah, so yeah, my place is slightly bigger than yours. But um, yeah, yeah, yeah, so like Chris you practically they have like six hundred square meters there in terms of space. 06:22.62 Bill White Um, ah, but there's a kid that runs all of those meters. Yeah exactly Yes, no kids. 06:22.86 archpodnet Oh my God That's right. 06:24.21 Heather But there's no kids. Yeah, but. 06:31.62 archpodnet Like. 06:34.56 Doug It feels like you know it might be only 30 but it feels like 600 without children. 06:37.58 archpodnet Well not really though my wife is in a knitting and crafting so all of most of the square meters we have are taken up by yarn storage or in work projects. So yeah, she like luckily that's true. That's true. That's true. 06:46.62 Doug Yeah, yeah, yeah, yarn is not actively trying to kill other yarn. 06:48.23 Bill White Um, yeah, but yarn doesn't make any noise or move. 06:56.70 Bill White Um, we can stack yarn up to the moon and it still wouldn't be the same as a toddler. 06:57.32 Heather I. 07:02.25 archpodnet Ah, okay, so let's let's let's get into this I think bill you you of of all of us, especially on the podcast here because you've had I mean you've had little kids at least you did very back in the beginning of the podcast and you were doing field work and you were you know. 07:14.21 Bill White Um, yeah, yeah. 07:19.13 archpodnet Were going to school at various points and you had kids and you know you have a wife and and you had fieldwork and you're working crm and I mean how did you? How did you even like get close to making it work besides staying in a closet. 07:27.40 Bill White Yeah, you know that? Yeah well you know, hiding in a closet crying was one piece except for when I was recording the podcast that was you know that that was one way that I managed it but you know, um. 07:36.65 archpodnet Ah, right. 07:40.21 Bill White Aftercare was like a critical piece and then I was fortunate that my wife had a job where she could like drop kids off and I could pick up or vice versa. So when I was still doing C R M and my son was little um, you know if I was in town then I could drop my son off at aftercare. 07:45.50 archpodnet The her. 07:56.71 Bill White Or you know preschool Actually when he before he was in school preschool right? So I could take him to preschool and then my wife could get him afterwards and we had to pay the I mean I don't think that folks really understand but it's like more than a mortgage to pay for ah preschool for two kids and so it doesn't matter where you live man if it's cheap. 08:10.71 archpodnet Left. 08:13.20 Doug Yeah, yeah, definitely. 08:15.94 Bill White Somewhere then that means that you're just still paying less money than someone like San Francisco but either which way it's pretty much the equivalent of a mortgage and so we were you know he we had to pay the extra because of course somehow aftercare is like you can show up in the morning with seconds to go before you go to your job drop your kid off. Race to your job and then start working and then you need to like you know, just basically appear exactly at 5 or you have to pay this extra time thing for like an hour or two a lot of them have this kind of tiered paying. So then you're paying the extra time because you can't commute or get to your kid so you know that's. That's definitely how we survived when my son was little but then when I had two kids I was in ah my ph d program so I could drop them both off at ah preschool go to campus and work and then go and get him before that extra time thing and then of course when my son was. Ah, in in elementary school then he just went to after care. So that's aftercare is is more affordable than preschool by you know, a large margin and so as your kids get older. You actually spend less money on um preschool because they only need after care because school basically takes up the other half of it. 09:08.96 archpodnet Ah. 09:11.00 archpodnet So. 09:27.96 Bill White And so the only way we were able to make it work is that my wife could be flexible and do that when I was in the field right? So when I'm in the middle of nowhere. She has to do all of that she has to take them in and she has to pick them up and so for you know I didn't until the pandemic till we could work from home. That's just what we did eleven years you know. 11 years of that. 09:47.68 archpodnet Um, so so Bill as as somebody with no kids I mean obviously I've heard of daycare but I don't think I've ever even heard of after care is that like a Tucson thing or is that all over the place or just the term for a place you tend your kids after school. 10:00.94 Bill White Yes, yeah, you know by the time by the so ah Preschool is huge because and and I actually feel like you should spend as much as you think is functional in preschool. It's actually worth more than college. In fact, don't even save for college as long as you can send them to a good preschool. 10:12.61 archpodnet M. 10:17.72 Bill White Because at a good preschool. They'll get to learn. You know they'll be way ahead of other kids when they get to ah kindergarten and so like you know I feel like the money is best spent when they're really little of course that's when you have the least amount of money so that's that's pretty rough. But um, you know preschools like all day. Or daycare right? So you want to send them to a preschool daycare and then they'll keep them from anywhere from like 8 am or eight thirty unless you pay extra money to drop them off early and then you can come and get them and you need to be there by like 6 or 7 or something like that or they start charging you and if you do it too many times then they'll just kick your kid out and it is really really. 10:37.45 archpodnet Yeah. 10:54.23 Bill White Crazy hard to get your kid into preschool crazy hard and so um, after care is a cool thing that's run by usually your school district or um, your city parks or something like that and so that's associated with your school So when the kid finishes they just kind of go with aftercare kids and finish their homework and then they get to play and hang out until you can come and get them. 10:56.80 archpodnet Okay. 11:14.40 Bill White But of course you know like you drop your kid off at school and then they just stay there for 2 to 3 hours after school and it is way cheaper because it's pretty much subsidized by the school but it is even harder than preschool to get into I mean when we got to California the day that so. If aftercare opens on April something in the morning when the the city parks thing opens at like 9 a m you need to be there around seven o'clock because you need to be there with a full check to pay for all the aftercare because seriously if you're not if you don't understand how it works man your kid is not getting an after care. 11:33.11 archpodnet Oh. Choose. 11:47.31 archpodnet Wow. 11:48.75 Bill White So the day it opens you need to take that day off or that entire morning and be in that line and sit there and wait to get your kid in because it's just such a high demand I mean it's ridiculously ah competitive I'm I'm not even talking about like you know education wise I'm talking about finding a place that's safe where they don't just watch Tv all day. To put your kid while you go to work. 12:07.17 archpodnet Right? Yeah wow, That's that's crazy I mean I knew a lot of the resources related to children I mean like daycare preschool I mean good schools things like that was always competitive. But yeah I'd never even heard of after care but that totally makes sense. We just went to you know Boys Club boys and girls school. 12:26.48 Bill White Yeah, well. ah yeah, yeah yeah ah yeah so that was what my sister had when she was in middle school and ah she lived with us in Seattle she went to the boys and girls club and that was only like 50 or sixty dollars a month or something like that. This was like 2008 or something like that. 12:26.80 archpodnet Just like let us go there and do whatever we want. Um. 12:37.35 archpodnet Yeah. 12:41.97 Bill White Think when I had kids in preschool but when they're babies. It's even more expensive but I think when I had kids in preschool they were both going to the same preschool before my son went to school and we were living in Tucson and I think my mortgage was like $900 a month and I think I was spending like $1200 a month on ah day preschool. 12:58.28 archpodnet Gs. 12:59.73 Bill White And then when we moved to California my son was in aftercare and my daughter was still in preschool for 1 year and I think we were paying like I don't even remember man like 24 $2600 a month for that and you got to pay for the after care and either 2 lump installments. 13:10.62 archpodnet Well well well. 13:18.40 Bill White Just the way it works in my area or you know, um, pay it all at once and we would always pay it all at once just to make sure that we didn't get slammed later on. So then we have time to save up to pay for the other kids preschool which was like you know $1100 a month or something like that for. 13:20.34 archpodnet Um. 13:34.17 archpodnet Right? wow. 13:36.58 Bill White Yeah, one month and and I had to be there by six o'clock on the dot or I got $50 every like 10 minutes that I was late and I took the subway so you know when you're riding on the subway if it's late. They just start racking on the fees and there's nothing you can do. They're like calling you instantly like. 13:48.56 archpodnet Yeah. 13:54.38 Bill White Compulsively calling you where are you? where are you? where are you just to know you're getting $50 just to know and it's just the worst thing in the world so you got to really leave work in the Bay Area you got to leave like an hour and a half two hours early to make sure that you're there because you can't tell what's going to happen on these roads. So that's why 1 person's got to go in early and the other person's got to drop them off and then the other person leaves early and then my wife would like work and she wouldn't get home to like 7 because it's an hour and a half or so on our commute. Yeah, and that's when that's when everyone's in town and working together. 14:10.36 archpodnet Ah. 14:18.49 archpodnet Yeah, Jez all right? Well man. Well you're I don't even have kids but you're wearing me out just tell the story. So let's take a break and then we'll come back and come back on the other side and see what the other guys think about this back in a minute.