Darby P. - Parent/Educator

“My son was not yet two when we found out we were having twins. We were living in Albuquerque, NM, where we had an amazing community, but no family for thousands of miles. My husband worked 12 hour shifts as an ICU nurse and he knew that if I needed help with newborn twins and a two year old he would not be able to leave work.

“We moved across the country to Cape Cod, half a mile from my parents. My mother made herself completely available to help, but it meant giving up jobs, connections and friends. There was no point in my looking for work on the Cape. Child care for three kids would eat up any paycheck I made. Once the kids were in school full time, I found out just how hard it is to find work with kids. I hadn’t worked in 6 years, so I wasn’t a very appealing candidate and having children made me even less so.

“I was finally able to find a job as a classroom assistant at Barnstable’s integrated preschool, Enoch Cobb Early Learning Center. I love my job, and I work with incredible women, but I make much less than half my former pay and am no longer in my field, despite having a Master’s degree.”