Long Island Working Moms newsletter: Does this count as a date?
“Should we hold hands?” my husband asked as we exit the car and start walking through the diner parking lot.
It’s 9:45 a.m. on a Friday. The kids were just dropped off at school and we have about an hour before we need to be back there to watch Field Day.
He happened to have the day off. I decided to take a last-minute personal day. And this impromptu breakfast is the closest thing we have had to a date in months.
With babysitting rates up to least $20 per hour on Long Island, more if you are asking them to watch more than one kid, you steal whatever child-free time you can get.
Factor that rate across a few hours and a simple dinner-and-a-movie date could cost you more than $100 before you even buy the tickets or order an appetizer.
Childcare rivaling college tuition
Meri Urena, with help from her mother, Jane Stewart, cares for her 1-year-old twins, Presley and Quinn, at her home in Amityville on May 28, 2026. Urena said the high cost of child care has made returning to full-time work financially unrealistic, Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
And babysitting is just the tip of the childcare costs. The average annual cost of childcare in New York is higher than every state except Massachusetts — and up to $16,000 for home-based operators and nearly $21,000 for center-cased providers.
Here on Long Island, we’re seeing childcare expenses climb so high they actually rival the cost of a year’s tuition at a state university, a reality that’s pushing some parents to stall their career paths, cut back on shifts, or even step away from jobs entirely.
Safer prom after parties
High school students attend Dawn Delirium, a post-prom party, in 2025. Credit: Dawn Delirium
If you’re the parent of a teen, maybe you’re wishing your biggest challenge was lining up an affordable sitter. With big kids heading off to proms and colleges, do you ever get used to them having less supervision?
Some schools have a hack for keeping their students out of trouble on prom night: Enticing them to attend a school-sanctioned after-party by raffling off thousands of dollars in impressive prizes. You can only win if you stay until the very end.
The districts spend months fundraising for the post-prom extravaganzas and rely on parent volunteers, but it’s yet another example of how if we build a strong “village” we can solve some of our parenting concerns ... together.
It’s our hope that through this newsletter we can apply this same mindset and energy into tackling some of the challenges facing working moms on Long Island.
Join the conversation
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And we'd also also like to hear from you — your questions, experiences, what you'd like to see from us — reach us at workingmoms@newsday.com.
Something new to try
Front Street Bakery's cake cups nod to the New York Knicks. Credit: Marie Elena Martinez
Between bed-parties, graduations and the Knicks, it seems like every other day we are looking for ways to celebrate school and team pride. The kids in my life are loving those viral "dot cakes." We’ve got a list of Long Island spots making dupes that you won’t have to wait in line for.
