XP: want to help me decide on a preschool/childcare scenario? LONG - sorry.

dangerkitty102

I also posted this on working moms, but thought you ladies with kids closer in age to mine would have just as good insight. 

I'm having a heck of a time making a decision on which preschool to send our son, Gage, to this Fall, so I thought I'd get some perspective from you ladies if that's okay!

Current situation: I work from home full time as a marketing manager, for the most part my schedule is pretty flexible except when I have conference calls. Some days I have them back-to-back, some days I have none. It's pretty unpredictable. I travel about once a quarter for about 4 days at a time.

My husband is self employed video producer. Some days he is out of the house all day long on shoots, some days he is working from home preparing for the next shoot. On those days he also has lots of flexibility, but again - very unpredictable schedule. And sometimes his shoots are out of town, overnight.

Our 19 month old (Gage) currently goes to an in-home day care in our neighborhood, just a few houses down. It's a very intimate loving environment and he loves it there. However we will be making a change this Fall because a) he's turning 2, and they only watch infants up until 2 years old (give or take) and b) it's time for something a little more structured where he'll learn more.

Also, I'm pregnant and Baby #2 will be arriving in late August. So right about the same time kiddo #1 starts preschool, we'll also be having welcoming younger sibling.

Okay so here are our potential scenarios:

Scenario #1: Hire a full time nanny to watch new baby in our home, send Gage to preschool for partial days, 2-3 days a week. The nanny will cost about $750/mo, preschool will cost about $330/mo, so total cost of care is about $1100.
pros: baby in our home, I can take breaks from work to nurse him/her (I was able to do this with Gage and it was great, helped me nurse for 14 months). Also the most economical option.
cons: kids IN OUR HOME while we are trying to work. We can move our office to our master bedroom which is in the very back of the house (which is 1 story) to help put some distance between us, but I'm still concerned about having my 2 year old running around the house at all when I have to work - especially when I have calls. I do have the option of going into the office, about a 30 minute commute. This takes away the pro of being home to nurse the baby though, and just sucks up more of the day with commuting.

Scenario #2: Hire a full time nanny to watch the new baby in our home ($750/mo), send Gage to preschool M-F 9-12pm ($650/mo), or until 2:30pm depending on the place. Gage would come home (nanny could pick him up every day), eat lunch and take a nap if we go with the 12pm option, so probably he wouldn't be awake and running around until 3 or 4 (I usually quitworking close to 4). He would eat lunch and take a nap at preschool if we went with the 2:30pm option, and would probably come home ready to play in that case.
pros: Gage will be out of the home or napping for the bulk of the work day.
cons: $1400/mo = expensive

There are several church based pre-schools that work well for Scenario #1. One of them is right across the street, within walking distance. Another is about a 10 minute drive, but I liked their curriculum a bit more.

For Scenario #2, we'd either go with the church across the street (they have a M-F, 9:30-2:30 option) or a Montessori school about 7 minutes away (would be M-F, 9-12) and they cost about the same.

Like I said, I'm very torn so just wondering if you guys might offer some perspective or insight I hadn't thought of perhaps. Thanks! 

Also, the new baby could go to the same in-home care Gage goes to now. The cost is about the same ($720/mo vs $750), but it's still close enough I could take breaks and go down there to nurse a couple of times a day probably.

celiabwatson

Knowing my two year old, I'd go with pre-school 9-12 every day (the fact that that option was Montessori was icing on the cake for me) here's why:

Routine is so important to him. I have to invent outings many days because he likes the routine of waking up, hanging out for a bit and then leaving the house. He also gets nice and tired on our outings and takes a good nap. I'm currently staying at home with an infant and 2 year old and if I could send him to pre-school from 9-12 every day, then have him come home and nap... I could easily work from home even without a nanny. I also personally think that pre-school is much more effective with the consistency of every day.

Good luck with your decision. 

dangerkitty102

celiabwatson:

Knowing my two year old, I'd go with pre-school 9-12 every day (the fact that that option was Montessori was icing on the cake for me) here's why:

Routine is so important to him. I have to invent outings many days because he likes the routine of waking up, hanging out for a bit and then leaving the house. He also gets nice and tired on our outings and takes a good nap. I'm currently staying at home with an infant and 2 year old and if I could send him to pre-school from 9-12 every day, then have him come home and nap... I could easily work from home even without a nanny. I also personally think that pre-school is much more effective with the consistency of every day.

Good luck with your decision. 

Thank you! I really appreciate your response. I also think it would be weird to go from the routine of wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, go to day care and play with my friends routine to only going out and seeing friends 2-3 days a week. I started off looking for a 5 day/week option but there just aren't many of them out there!

hmp1

We just moved out of the metroplex and I can't believe you can get a nanny for $750 a month.  We were paying $250 a week at a center. 

I also work from home and send DS to a center. He was home the Friday before New Years Day with DH and I was working. It was hard just for that day. He knew I was here and wanted me to play.  I would put your DS in M-F Montessori. If money isn't an issue, I would do a fulltime center that has a pre-k program (like a Primrose).

dangerkitty102

Yeah, $750 will be a steal of a deal I know. It's our current housekeeper, who we've used for years, and that's the price she quoted us to full time nanny AND do the housekeeping. The in home daycare is $720, so if for some reason it doesn't work out there's always that option.

There is a brand new Primrose going up very close to our house, but OUCH - super pricey - $1100/month just for one kid. Unfortunately, money IS an issue. My salary only goes so far and DH's is unpredictable, so committing to any new, regular monthly expense is always stressful.

numeria11

Yeah I would go with either option in Option 2  just to give you big guy some structure.  Especially with a new baby on the way and all the changes the little one will bring with them it will be nice for him to go somewhere everyday knowing what to expect.  It also seems more likely to me that your housekeeper/nanny will better be able to handle both of them if she too has a predictable schedule every day vs having to change things from day to day.  More likely to keep her happy and keep her from asking for more cash since it might get pretty stressful otherwise.  GL!

Heather R

Option 2 sounds more parent-friendly to me.

it's not your question, but getting a nanny in our home just before the second child was born made a world of difference!