The death of common sense

Whatever happened to plain old fashioned common sense?
A news story grabbed my attention this week. Two police officers looked after each others children so the other could work, in a bloody sensible job share arrangement. Some sour faced do gooder ( who probably pays the local nursery a grand a month to look after their child) reported them to the powers that be who duly informed them that their happy, mutually convenient arrangement was 'illegal.'
Our country, our government, knows what's best for our kids and you'd better sit up and pay attention before we all stumble blindly into an Orwellian Dead-End.
Yes, it beggars belief. But no, it did happen and as a result one of these women has decided to have no more children.
She can't afford it. There's a fairly recent trend for one child families(through choice not desire) since it means the childcare arrangements are manageable and obviously much cheaper. Double up on the sprogs and double up on nursery fees, obviously.
When I was researching the possiblities of returning to work when the youngest was born, and pondering on the cost of expensive and not always entirely suitable full time childcare options, I made the somewhat old fashioned and sometimes socially frowned-upon decision to stay at home with both of them. I worked out that, factoring in daycare costs, travel costs, and other sundry costs, my income would have to exceed 45k to make it worthwile, and even then I'd be exisiting in a state of constant shatterdom,( this is not a real word ) working 12 hour days in a stressful environment which makes no allowances for parents whatever bloody government directives are issued, and only seeing them both briefly in the morning and evening. Over the past ten years or so, this government has tempted/forced more and more parents to use full time daycare so they (women mostly, it seems Harriet Harman wants us all to get jobs as MP's )can work. Well, what if we don't want to ? What if we want to look after our children at home, all on our very own without any state intervention or Ofsted ruling? What if we prefer to do that ?
What if a Mother wants a few years out to raise her brood, or part time work which fits in better with a growing family ?
Is that so very twee and 1950's?
Harriet Harman insists that we need more women in Parliament. Well, wake up and smell the coffee, Hattie... most women don't want to live in a secondary residence all week (even if they can claim fraudulently for a new plasma telly on expenses) whilst a Nanny has all the fun at home with their children. Most women would shudder at the thought of working away from their children week in, week out.
The best thing to happen in 2010 will be the removal of Harriet Harman from government. Gordon is a bit crap too, but HH makes my blood boil.
Sod off Ofsted.