Chapter 143 · Month 54 · Starting a Family

The Good News

The cost of childcare, in actual numbers

Oldest line first — the newest line is at the bottom.

      
            Algy
            designer
            11:23
          
It's the childminder's rates that keep me up — $310 a week, four days, and I've done the sums on the back of the electricity bill twice. I keep getting the same number and pretending the number's wrong.

            Penny
            teacher
            11:24
          
Four days at $310 is $1,240 a month before we've bought a thing. What did you actually work it against — my salary alone, or both of us together?

            Algy
            designer
            11:25
          
Both, and against my invoices — the $820 and the $460, if they ever land, which is a big if. Say the news out loud and it's $1,240 a month before a cot; say it to your mum Sunday and it's a diary entry. Can I have that do-over, where I don't go quiet this time?

            Penny
            teacher
            11:26
          
Right: the three things I'll say out loud, in order — $1,240 a month, the two invoices, and no, you don't get to be the weak line. Chloe, Saturday, eleven. She'll ask about money before she asks how I am, so let's have the number ready.

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