More sitter woes
So, as if the 3:00 pickup wasn't bad enough...on Thursday, the sitter informs me that Grandma fell and broke her wrist. They have decided grandma can't live on her own anymore and guess who gets to take care of her during the day...yep. She can't watch the kids AT ALL anymore starting in February...Panic central. Again. I literally just feel sick that we have to look for childcare once again.
So, here is where I stand right now with choices for childcare:
1) A national day care center. 420/week Yikes! Not to mention the fact that I have a very hard time taking my baby to a day care center (think Eliana would probably like it well enough though...) near my house (5 minutes away)
2) Home day care #1. 360/week. Owner is a grandma who decided to get licensed to earn some extra money while watching grandson with Celiac disease (supposedly family was worried other day cares wouldnt take him?) Won't do much preschool activities..sounds mostly like babysitting, won't transport kids anywhere (such as preschool). About 8 minutes from my house
3) SAHM of 2 boys 4 and 18 months. 225/week. Goes to my church, nice big house, plans on doing some preschool worksheets with the kids and going on a few outings every now and then. Downfall: 15 minutes from home, adds at least 20 minutes to dropoff and pickup.
4) SAHM of 2 boys 4 and 7.5 months. 300/week. Lives in a townhome, not a lot of space, but will go out do and lots of activities. About 10 minutes from home.
5) Home day care #2. not sure of rate yet, going for a visit tomorrow night. Highly recommended by a lady at MOPS. I have heard great things about it every MOPS meeting. Does a lot of preschool activities and works very hard on potty training. about 15 minutes away from home, adding about 20 minutes to dropoff and pickup.
I am leaning heavily towards #3, but am scared to commit, worried about the extra travel time, and just that another SAHM might up and quit like this one....what do you think??
Oh, and there is one other option...there is one woman who lives in the next town north of me who would watch the kids for 600/month AND pick them up to take them to her house...seems awfully peculiar to me...that is a 20 minute drive one way at the best of times...but not at the hours I would need....
And also, for reference, I currently pay 300/week, with good old sitter I would have paid 250/week and with horrible sitter I paid 325/week.
So, here is where I stand right now with choices for childcare:
1) A national day care center. 420/week Yikes! Not to mention the fact that I have a very hard time taking my baby to a day care center (think Eliana would probably like it well enough though...) near my house (5 minutes away)
2) Home day care #1. 360/week. Owner is a grandma who decided to get licensed to earn some extra money while watching grandson with Celiac disease (supposedly family was worried other day cares wouldnt take him?) Won't do much preschool activities..sounds mostly like babysitting, won't transport kids anywhere (such as preschool). About 8 minutes from my house
3) SAHM of 2 boys 4 and 18 months. 225/week. Goes to my church, nice big house, plans on doing some preschool worksheets with the kids and going on a few outings every now and then. Downfall: 15 minutes from home, adds at least 20 minutes to dropoff and pickup.
4) SAHM of 2 boys 4 and 7.5 months. 300/week. Lives in a townhome, not a lot of space, but will go out do and lots of activities. About 10 minutes from home.
5) Home day care #2. not sure of rate yet, going for a visit tomorrow night. Highly recommended by a lady at MOPS. I have heard great things about it every MOPS meeting. Does a lot of preschool activities and works very hard on potty training. about 15 minutes away from home, adding about 20 minutes to dropoff and pickup.
I am leaning heavily towards #3, but am scared to commit, worried about the extra travel time, and just that another SAHM might up and quit like this one....what do you think??
Oh, and there is one other option...there is one woman who lives in the next town north of me who would watch the kids for 600/month AND pick them up to take them to her house...seems awfully peculiar to me...that is a 20 minute drive one way at the best of times...but not at the hours I would need....
And also, for reference, I currently pay 300/week, with good old sitter I would have paid 250/week and with horrible sitter I paid 325/week.
Labels: sitters
posted by Katrina | 1/19/2009 08:25:00 PM
7 Comments:
My heart goes out to you. It is so hard finding somewhere to leave your kids!! Both dayhomes we have had have been great, but the adjustment period absolutely sucked!! Best of luck making your decision!!
Oh, it's so hard! I hope that you're able to make a decision you feel comfortable with. Nothing like very little notice, right?
If #2's grandson has Celiac Disease then would you have to provide food for your kids? If you do have to provide food...would it have to be gluten free so her grandson doesn't get sick? Just another thing for you to think about! I have Celiac Disease and I can't have anything with wheat, rye, barley, or oats. When I was teaching preschool, I couldn't even touch the play-doh or else I would get sick! Even a crumb from a sandwich can make someone with Celiac sick.
Wow, big decision. Looks like you've really done your research.
As for the least expensive option, why not look into it? Is she licensed? Does she have references?
#3 does sound like a great option.
I worked in a daycare once. It was awful. Dirty. The kids were neglected. I promised myself I'd never put my kids in daycare after that, although I'm sure there are good daycares out there.
Good luck making this decision.
I am so sorry you are looking for daycare again...I know how hard it is to find someone you can trust. I would personally not be comfortable with the one who will pick them up - although convenient, I would worry about yet another thing (them being driven around). Best of luck!
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Have you made a decision? I hope all is well with you!
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