PT Moms
I know there was a post awhile back about those who work part-time as well as part-time daycare. If you work part-time, how did you work out finding part time daycare? Do you use a center vs. private in-home? Do you get a discounted rate?
There is a good chance that I'll be able to teach part-time next year. Unfortunately, our provider isn't willing to let us bring Ella half day for part-time rate, even though my co-teacher would bring her daughter (who is 2) in the afternoon and pay the rest of the infant rate. So, we need to decide whether or not we need to find another provider. I'm pretty bummed, since we love her and she agrees to cloth diaper, but I guess I understand at the same time. The hang up is that I'd be working M-F until around noon, so I still need care each day.
Any tips would be great!
Re: PT Moms
We have an inhome provider who is super-flexible (retired and doesn't need the money - just loves kids).I would agree that most times if you are talking 5 half days instead of FT or even 2-3 whole days, you'll likely pay more per hour. We probably pay more than some others since she watches fewer kids, but it is worth every penny for the nurturing and love she gets there.
The hard thing when I work a half day in the a.m. is trying to get there before nap time if I have to work a little over...once she goes down I don't want to wake her up, but if I let her sleep there it turns into a whole day of care to pay for but a half-day's pay. Or I get there and have to rush her home to get her down for nap and try not to have her fall asleep in the car. That's why I prefer to work an afternoon for a half day. Not the same issue with a newborn (mornings were better then), but just something to thin about for a future toddler.
Good luck. Working is a crazy juggle with little ones, but everyone just has to find the right situation that their family can live with.
I would just call around as well. I don't work part time (but GOD do I wish I did!!) but Jack goes to daycare part time because my husband works second shift. He's there 3 hours a day and we pay the part time rate they offer (anything under 5 hours/day). Our center also allows cloth diapering as well. I know that doesn't help you since you aren't local but hopefully it gives you hope that the option may be out there for you.
And how awesome for you that you may be able to go part time!!! I'm so jealous!
Our daily rate is more than a full-time daily rate, but overall it's less money of course. We use a center, and our center was pretty rigid about doing M/W/F or T/Th as the only options. I wasn't looking for half days at all, so I didn't even ask about that. I do agree that you might really want to consider naps. Since going to one nap, Adam has slept from noon until 2 or 3, so if I would be late getting off from my half day, that might be difficult. I'm lucky that if he falls asleep in the car I can take him inside and put him into bed with no issues, but not all kids work like that. Just something to consider!
Good luck!
Thanks for all of your ideas and suggestions. Our provider agreed to drop the rate down by a little but not much, so I'll need to do some searching to compare rates. It has been hard with the half day, all week care, since most part time is MWF or T/TH. But it sounds like it is out there somewhere!
And yeah, the naps are an issue... My co-teacher's daughter is 2 and she actually wanted to work mornings so her daughter just didn't need to nap at daycare and instead had some social interaction. However, I'll be teaching Language Arts, Writing, Word Study which is in the morning so I'm not sure how it will work out. If this schedule does stick, I'll be able to pick Ella up by 12:20. Hopefully in the future when she has that long afternoon nap, I can get her before she goes down.