My spouse and I struggled with childcare as we settled down in Busan, where we had no relatives. To address the problem, we moved to an apartment very close to the school entrance around the time our second child was to enter grade school. Our eldest was in second grade at the time, and we believed that taking care of the children would be much easier if he simply transferred to the new school.
However, when we tried to transfer our eldest after we finished moving in, he flatly refused to do so. So, we had no choice but to enroll our second child in the same elementary school as the eldest. Even though we had an elementary school right in front of our apartment, we had to shoulder the burden of driving our kids to another school about 15 minutes away by car every morning.
Time passed, and our eldest was assigned to the middle school next to the elementary school. That means I have to take him there on my way to work. Our plan to make childcare easier has gone sideway, and we are living in what seems like a constant battle.
address the problem - to give attention to or deal with a matter or problem
flatly refuse - you do it completely or in a very clear and firm way
shoulder the burden - to accept a difficult or unpleasant responsibility, duty etc
go sideways - something has gone wrong or not as planned
우리 부부는 친척이 없는 부산에 정착하면서 육아에 어려움을 겪었다. 이 문제를 해결하기 위해 둘째 아이가 초등학교에 입학할 즈음 학교 교문과 아주 가까운 아파트로 이사했다. 당시 큰아이가 초등학교 2학년이었는데, 새 학교로 전학만 하면 아이들을 돌보는 일이 훨씬 수월할 거라 생각했다.
하지만 이사를 마친 후 큰아이를 전학시키려고 했더니 아이가 전학을 단호하게 거부했다. 그래서 어쩔 수 없이 둘째를 첫째와 같은 초등학교에 입학시킬 수밖에 없었다. 아파트 바로 앞에 초등학교가 있음에도 매일 아침 차로 15분 정도 떨어진 다른 학교로 아이를 데려다줘야 하는 수고를 감수해야 했다.
시간이 지나고 큰 아이는 초등학교 옆에 있는 중학교로 배정되었다. 그 말은 내가 출근길에 아이를 또 데려다줘야 한다는 뜻이다. 육아를 더 편하게 하려고 했던 계획은 틀어졌고, 우리는 끊임없는 전쟁 속에서 살고 있다.
- Many working couples struggle with childcare. / My mom came to live with us because we were struggling with childcare.
- I asked politely, but she flatly refused. / He flatly refused to try it.
- Our plan went sideways almost immediately. / The entire project went sideways because of that mistake.
A: Do your kids walk to school in the morning?
B: I drop them off on my way to work.
A: Isn’t the school within walking distance?
B: It is, but one of them refused to transfer, so we have no choice but to do it this way.
A: Oh, that must be hard for you every morning.
B: Tell me about it, It’s like fighting a battle every morning.
