We are starting the next (totally daunting) process of finding a daycare/nanny-share for the Fall and trying to weight our priorities: convenience (this is a necessity as we are one-car family) versus price (which varies from totally reasonable to OMG - what are they going to be teaching her, scuba-diving??), versus flexibility (we are looking for 2 or 3 days a week). W will have her two mornings a week, W's mom will have her two afternoons a week and I will have her one full day, so we are really only looking for part-time care, which is challenging. And just to give you a sense of what we are dealing with, when we contacted 1 of the 4 Harvard daycares several weeks ago, they kind of snickered told us we could get on the wait list for Fall -- Fall of 2012! Thats just ridiculous. W gets a discount, but no discount is worth THAT attitude. AND to make matters even more complicated, we are really only planning to put her whereever "here is" until she hits 15 months, when we are hoping to move her to a full-time Spanish immersion pre-school -- YIKES.
Any advice re childcare is MORE than welcome!
Anyways, Spring is finally REALLY here, and we are getting excited about our month of in the Bay...
All I can say is that I feel your pain. Daycare has always been one of the hardest things to deal with. Part time care is even harder I hear. Might be worth it to find a part-time nanny or home daycare for now. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a nanny? You could probably find one that would be able to swing the part-time hours (possibly even a share with another family to cut the costs and make sure your nanny is getting enough money to live on) and Izzy would get much more one-on-one attention.
ReplyDeleteI second the nanny option. We also found a lady who does at-home daycare, who our T1 goes to. At home daycare people (we've found) tend to be super flexible with their hours and prices, plus I feel better leaving T1 at a home with all the comforts and amenities of home, versus an actual daycare center. Also, believe it or not, we found her on crai.gsl.ist. We interviewed her, did a home tour, had a few day trial period where we were home but sent T1 there anyways for a half day just to make sure it was a good fit, and decided we liked her. So maybe look into at home care?
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ReplyDeletefinding daycare seems to be a nightmare on all counts. good luck!
ReplyDeleteps: izzy's such a cutie!