Opening at local preschool... Should I take it now?

TheBorg7of9 · May 2014

I'm facing a conundrum.

My son is 2 years and 3 months. His little brother is 4 months old. And we are currently in a nanny share with our neighbor who has a 8 month old. The nanny share is at our house. The other mom works from home and they live right next door.

We were planning to start DS1 at a neighborhood Montesorri sometime next winter when he turns 3. It is .3 miles away. Half day program $1080 per month, with no option for less than 5 days a week. We live in Chicago and don't want him cooped up with the two babies all the time.

We have been on the waiting list for a while because waiting lists are very long here. This particular Montesorri has a 2-3 room and a 3-6 room. They called me yesterday to say they have an opening for July 1st. She said that openings don't come up very often and only happen when someone moves out of the neighborhood. I guess this could be the case if most of the kids are 3 years old. That might be true since the place is new and just opened a year ago, so maybe they only have younger kids?

We do not have a car that can fit three car seats (although maybe we should try to do it even though it looks impossible). We have a Hyundai Sante Fe with two carseats and the room in between them seems way to small to fit a seat. So, the nanny will either have to walk them all together (she already takes them on walks). Or she will have to drive my two kids while the neighbor watches her baby for 5 minutes. The neighbors always knew we were planning to send DS1 to preschool and the mom had offered to watch her own kid (and my DS2) for drop off and pick up. But they did not know we might do it this year.

So, we either send him now or wait until next year to see if any openings come up. We really want to get a spot there since it is so close to our house. We can afford the extra money, it would just come out of money that I have been using for savings anyway. But it is still a lot of money and probably a pain for the nanny and the neighbor, but I am sure they would be cooperative about it. Also, it would be nice for DS1 to get out of the house more since the nanny can't really take the three kids anywhere. WDYT? Do you think the preschool is exaggerating the limited availability of spots? Thanks for your input! (I love this board)

djm31012 · May 2014

I think you definitely start him now. If the other mom works from home and lives right next door, there is no reason she cant watch her own kid for a total of 15 minutes a day. What else will your son do all summer at home with 2 infants?

jf198400 · May 2014

I would definitely start him now. I think your son will be very bored stuck at home all the time with 2 babies. They are probably all on different nap schedules now, which makes it hard to even just take them all to the park. It will also make it easier for the nanny to focus on the other 2. You can play that up as a benefit when you talk to the other mom.
I think in the long run you will want the nanny to be able to drive all 3 kids places. When the babies get older they'll need to get out of the house. In Chicago I'm sure you'll need indoor places to go in the winter. So I'd investigate what 3 car seats could fit together in your car (even if you have to buy 3 new ones). Check out "car seats for the littles" and "thecarseatlady" on Facebook. They can give you advice on what seats will fit.

TheBorg7of9 · May 2014

Thanks for all the advice! We decided to go ahead and start him in July.

I'll still watch this thread if anyone else gas something to add.

ASmallWonder · May 2014

jf198400 If your only hesitation is the car seat situation, there's probably a fix for it even though it almost definitely means buying new (skinnier) seats

Want a personalized experience?

Opening at local preschool... Should I take it now?

Re: Opening at local preschool... Should I take it now?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards