Wheelhouze
@wheelhouze.bsky.social
15 years analyzing data in law enforcement taught me: question everything. Now I apply that to early education. Former daycare owner + substitute teacher for people who want truth, not trends. The Parenting Revolution on Substack. ☕
Most parents feel like childcare is their private problem.
But those prices are really the bill for a system built on families paying more and educators earning less.
When lawmakers say “we can’t afford more,” what they mean is: “We’re okay with that.”
That’s not economics. It’s a choice.
But those prices are really the bill for a system built on families paying more and educators earning less.
When lawmakers say “we can’t afford more,” what they mean is: “We’re okay with that.”
That’s not economics. It’s a choice.
February 18, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Most parents feel like childcare is their private problem.
But those prices are really the bill for a system built on families paying more and educators earning less.
When lawmakers say “we can’t afford more,” what they mean is: “We’re okay with that.”
That’s not economics. It’s a choice.
But those prices are really the bill for a system built on families paying more and educators earning less.
When lawmakers say “we can’t afford more,” what they mean is: “We’re okay with that.”
That’s not economics. It’s a choice.
Real talk: When states cut early childhood funding, your program doesn't get a grace period to "figure it out."
Classrooms close mid-year. Teachers get laid off. Families scramble. This isn't theoretical. It's happening in multiple states right now.
Classrooms close mid-year. Teachers get laid off. Families scramble. This isn't theoretical. It's happening in multiple states right now.
February 18, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Real talk: When states cut early childhood funding, your program doesn't get a grace period to "figure it out."
Classrooms close mid-year. Teachers get laid off. Families scramble. This isn't theoretical. It's happening in multiple states right now.
Classrooms close mid-year. Teachers get laid off. Families scramble. This isn't theoretical. It's happening in multiple states right now.
When leaders say “there’s no money,” remember: they’re talking about priorities, not physics.
You can’t change the whole budget tonight, but you can refuse to forget the children it erases.
You can’t change the whole budget tonight, but you can refuse to forget the children it erases.
February 18, 2026 at 12:22 AM
When leaders say “there’s no money,” remember: they’re talking about priorities, not physics.
You can’t change the whole budget tonight, but you can refuse to forget the children it erases.
You can’t change the whole budget tonight, but you can refuse to forget the children it erases.
The Child Care & Dev Block Grant funds subsidies for low-income families. Congress is talking about keeping it flat. Not cutting it. Just holding it at current levels. With inflation, “level” funding is a cut. Programs lose purchasing power. Slots disappear. Math doesn’t care about your intentions.
February 17, 2026 at 10:57 PM
The Child Care & Dev Block Grant funds subsidies for low-income families. Congress is talking about keeping it flat. Not cutting it. Just holding it at current levels. With inflation, “level” funding is a cut. Programs lose purchasing power. Slots disappear. Math doesn’t care about your intentions.
NEW: The Child Care Cliff 2.0 is here, and it’s hitting faster than anyone expected.
Federal budget cuts + state budget crises = your childcare program is at risk, even if you can afford to pay.
Here’s the math nobody wants you to see. 🔗
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/we-built-c...
Federal budget cuts + state budget crises = your childcare program is at risk, even if you can afford to pay.
Here’s the math nobody wants you to see. 🔗
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/we-built-c...
We Built Child Care on a Cliff. Now the Ground Is Giving Way
Federal budget choices and state cost‑shifting will hit working families first, from subsidy waitlists to closed classrooms
theparentingrevolution.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:21 PM
NEW: The Child Care Cliff 2.0 is here, and it’s hitting faster than anyone expected.
Federal budget cuts + state budget crises = your childcare program is at risk, even if you can afford to pay.
Here’s the math nobody wants you to see. 🔗
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/we-built-c...
Federal budget cuts + state budget crises = your childcare program is at risk, even if you can afford to pay.
Here’s the math nobody wants you to see. 🔗
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/we-built-c...
Tomorrow: The federal budget math that’s forcing childcare programs to close.
We’re unpacking CCDBG, Head Start, and state budgets—and why “we don’t have the money” is always a political choice.
Bring your calculator and your rage.
We’re unpacking CCDBG, Head Start, and state budgets—and why “we don’t have the money” is always a political choice.
Bring your calculator and your rage.
February 16, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Tomorrow: The federal budget math that’s forcing childcare programs to close.
We’re unpacking CCDBG, Head Start, and state budgets—and why “we don’t have the money” is always a political choice.
Bring your calculator and your rage.
We’re unpacking CCDBG, Head Start, and state budgets—and why “we don’t have the money” is always a political choice.
Bring your calculator and your rage.
The Child Care Cliff isn’t a metaphor. It’s math. Pandemic relief ended, and states filled some gaps. Now, as they face Medicaid cuts and rising SNAP costs, budgets are tightening. Programs are closing — not next year. Now. Tomorrow’s article breaks down how.
February 16, 2026 at 5:32 PM
The Child Care Cliff isn’t a metaphor. It’s math. Pandemic relief ended, and states filled some gaps. Now, as they face Medicaid cuts and rising SNAP costs, budgets are tightening. Programs are closing — not next year. Now. Tomorrow’s article breaks down how.
Monday reality check: Federal budget changes could shrink Medicaid funding by around 14% over the next decade, with some states near 20%. When states lose that much Medicaid money, early childhood and childcare funding are squarely in the crosshairs.
February 16, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Monday reality check: Federal budget changes could shrink Medicaid funding by around 14% over the next decade, with some states near 20%. When states lose that much Medicaid money, early childhood and childcare funding are squarely in the crosshairs.
Quick question: Do you know how much federal funding your child's program receives? CCDBG? Head Start? PDG B-5?
Most parents have no idea. That's about to be a problem because those funding streams are all under threat right now.
Most parents have no idea. That's about to be a problem because those funding streams are all under threat right now.
February 16, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Quick question: Do you know how much federal funding your child's program receives? CCDBG? Head Start? PDG B-5?
Most parents have no idea. That's about to be a problem because those funding streams are all under threat right now.
Most parents have no idea. That's about to be a problem because those funding streams are all under threat right now.
✨️Coming this week:
Tuesday: What the federal budget cuts actually mean for your childcare program
Thursday: How state budget crises are forcing impossible choices
Saturday: Where the money is going (and why it's not reaching classrooms)
The receipts are about to get very specific.
Tuesday: What the federal budget cuts actually mean for your childcare program
Thursday: How state budget crises are forcing impossible choices
Saturday: Where the money is going (and why it's not reaching classrooms)
The receipts are about to get very specific.
February 15, 2026 at 9:45 PM
✨️Coming this week:
Tuesday: What the federal budget cuts actually mean for your childcare program
Thursday: How state budget crises are forcing impossible choices
Saturday: Where the money is going (and why it's not reaching classrooms)
The receipts are about to get very specific.
Tuesday: What the federal budget cuts actually mean for your childcare program
Thursday: How state budget crises are forcing impossible choices
Saturday: Where the money is going (and why it's not reaching classrooms)
The receipts are about to get very specific.
This week we’re talking about money—where it’s going & where it’s disappearing. The “Child Care Cliff 2.0” is here: federal cuts + state budget crises = programs closing & families scrambling. If you think this won’t touch you, wait until your program loses a classroom or raises tuition to survive.
February 15, 2026 at 3:04 PM
This week we’re talking about money—where it’s going & where it’s disappearing. The “Child Care Cliff 2.0” is here: federal cuts + state budget crises = programs closing & families scrambling. If you think this won’t touch you, wait until your program loses a classroom or raises tuition to survive.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all the parents and caregivers doing the quiet, everyday work of loving kids well. However today looked for you, I’m glad you’re here.💕
February 15, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Happy Valentine’s Day to all the parents and caregivers doing the quiet, everyday work of loving kids well. However today looked for you, I’m glad you’re here.💕
Your child’s teacher didn’t just “move on.” They walked away from a job that asks too much and gives too little. Here’s what it really means when the classroom keeps losing the adults kids depend on.
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/your-child...
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/your-child...
Your Child's Teacher Just Quit. Now What?
How to turn frustration into political pressure when the system is failing
theparentingrevolution.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Your child’s teacher didn’t just “move on.” They walked away from a job that asks too much and gives too little. Here’s what it really means when the classroom keeps losing the adults kids depend on.
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/your-child...
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/your-child...
Tomorrow’s piece is the practical one: specific ways parents can support immigrant educators, push for stability, and protect kids’ routines even when the national conversation is chaos.
February 14, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Tomorrow’s piece is the practical one: specific ways parents can support immigrant educators, push for stability, and protect kids’ routines even when the national conversation is chaos.
Question to ask your program: “How are recent immigration policies affecting your staff and families, if at all?” The answer tells you a lot about who is quietly holding up your child’s day.
February 13, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Question to ask your program: “How are recent immigration policies affecting your staff and families, if at all?” The answer tells you a lot about who is quietly holding up your child’s day.
Immigration policy whiplash doesn’t just stress out adults. When caregivers are scared or leave jobs suddenly, kids lose stable routines, familiar faces, and sometimes whole classrooms. That’s a nervous‑system issue for them too.
February 13, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Immigration policy whiplash doesn’t just stress out adults. When caregivers are scared or leave jobs suddenly, kids lose stable routines, familiar faces, and sometimes whole classrooms. That’s a nervous‑system issue for them too.
Studies link immigration enforcement and family separation to higher rates of depression, anxiety, and toxic stress in kids. The symptoms look like “behavior problems” in classrooms. They are survival strategies.
February 12, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Studies link immigration enforcement and family separation to higher rates of depression, anxiety, and toxic stress in kids. The symptoms look like “behavior problems” in classrooms. They are survival strategies.
Immigration raids are not just “politics.” When kids live with the fear a parent could disappear, their brains adapt to survive. Today’s piece walks through what research actually shows about enforcement and child development. 🔗
open.substack.com/pub/theparen...
open.substack.com/pub/theparen...
What Immigration Enforcement Does to Kids
The case for treating it as an adverse childhood experience
open.substack.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Immigration raids are not just “politics.” When kids live with the fear a parent could disappear, their brains adapt to survive. Today’s piece walks through what research actually shows about enforcement and child development. 🔗
open.substack.com/pub/theparen...
open.substack.com/pub/theparen...
Tomorrow I’m sharing a piece that treats immigration enforcement as what it is for children: a nervous‑system issue, a brain‑development issue, a school‑functioning issue. Not a “side topic."
February 12, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Tomorrow I’m sharing a piece that treats immigration enforcement as what it is for children: a nervous‑system issue, a brain‑development issue, a school‑functioning issue. Not a “side topic."
Health and advocacy groups are already warning: increased immigration raids are showing up as toxic stress symptoms in kids. The nervous system is the front line, whether we acknowledge it or not.
February 11, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Health and advocacy groups are already warning: increased immigration raids are showing up as toxic stress symptoms in kids. The nervous system is the front line, whether we acknowledge it or not.
Kids don’t read policy briefs. They read faces, tones, absences. A crackdown that looks “tough” on TV often lands in a child’s body as stomachaches, sleeplessness, and “I don’t want to go to school."
February 11, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Kids don’t read policy briefs. They read faces, tones, absences. A crackdown that looks “tough” on TV often lands in a child’s body as stomachaches, sleeplessness, and “I don’t want to go to school."
We talk about “the childcare crisis” like it’s abstract. Look at who is changing diapers, teaching letters, and soothing kids at nap time. Immigration is not a side issue. It’s a structural beam.
February 11, 2026 at 12:41 AM
We talk about “the childcare crisis” like it’s abstract. Look at who is changing diapers, teaching letters, and soothing kids at nap time. Immigration is not a side issue. It’s a structural beam.
In some metro areas, immigrants are nearly 40% of the childcare workforce. Lose them, and you don’t just lose “extra help.” You lose classrooms, routines, and trusted adults.
February 10, 2026 at 8:13 PM
In some metro areas, immigrants are nearly 40% of the childcare workforce. Lose them, and you don’t just lose “extra help.” You lose classrooms, routines, and trusted adults.
One in five childcare workers in the U.S. is an immigrant. About one in four young children has at least one immigrant parent. When immigration policy shakes, early childhood shakes. Today’s piece puts hard numbers to that story. 🔗
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/when-immig...
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/when-immig...
When Immigration Policy Becomes Childcare Policy
What crackdowns really mean for the adults caring for kids and the kids in their care
theparentingrevolution.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:21 PM
One in five childcare workers in the U.S. is an immigrant. About one in four young children has at least one immigrant parent. When immigration policy shakes, early childhood shakes. Today’s piece puts hard numbers to that story. 🔗
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/when-immig...
theparentingrevolution.substack.com/p/when-immig...
If you've ever relied on a trusted caregiver who spoke your child's home language, you've felt this: immigrant educators don't just "fill slots." They carry culture, comfort, and continuity.
February 10, 2026 at 12:17 AM
If you've ever relied on a trusted caregiver who spoke your child's home language, you've felt this: immigrant educators don't just "fill slots." They carry culture, comfort, and continuity.