Unfortunately, it seems that various government-funded institutions don’t understand this. The Childcare Resource and Research Unit (www.childcarecanada.org), an organization partially funded by the HRDC that lobbies the federal government on child care issues, has a policy paper which states that "children have the right to be cared for and socialized in a wider context than the family". In other words, your children have the right to have strangers care for them. If you sacrifice to stay home with your kids, you are violating their rights. You are not good enough. What your kids really need is the government.

I know there are families who are not up to the task of parenting, and nothing gets me more riled up than people who neglect or hurt their children. Obviously government has a role to step in when parents don’t do their job. But it is a far cry from stepping in during emergencies to taking over responsibility. And yet, today government is encroaching on the family in ways that would have been unimaginable even a decade or two ago. Whether it’s in universal day care, refusing to raise the age of consent, redefining the family, or determining what sexual messages children are exposed to in school, it seems that we are in a tug of war with government over who will raise our kids.

Here’s why I get worried: if that six-month old baby who plays strange is onto something, and children really do need their parents, then what will be the effect of government taking over so many parental roles? If government gives the message, intentionally or not, that parents aren’t good enough, and that we need experts to teach our kids how to learn, what to think, and which lifestyle choices are good for them, then parents are likely to feel inadequate and to stop trying to do some of these very necessary, but difficult things themselves. When parents stop trying, we create more windows for government to step in, and the cycle goes on and on.

This got started, I believe, because Canadians do not all agree about what constitutes the basic building blocks of our society. Is it individuals? Is it families? Or is it governments? In the United States, with its emphasis on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it’s easier to point to individuals or families. Canada, in contrary, stresses "peace, order and good government". It makes sense for the government to try to fix all of our problems. But if what kids need is their parents, then adding layers that separate them from parental authority isn’t necessarily going to give us peace and order at all.

I don’t mind governments helping families; I just don’t want them replacing families. That’s why I’m much more comfortable with a childcare policy which gives money to the families who can then decide how to care for their kids, rather than only providing day care centres. The Conservatives advocate this, and I trust that if they win this next election, they’ll remember that the government should be at our service, not us at theirs. Katie played shy with everyone because she sensed something: nobody loved her more than I did. I hope whatever government is formed next will remember this, and will trust me to raise her.