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Am I Crazy? WWYD?
momofcatan
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in Working Moms
My apologies this is long, I would love WM opinions.
We currently use an in-home DC who takes 5 full day kids and 5 half day kids. She came very highly recommended and we have been so happy with her. The price is very reasonable but the downsides are she is closed any time her kids' school is closed (2-10 days a month) and is only until 5pm. DH and I both work until 5pm but my mom (retired) and his mom (works 3 days a week) split doing the pickups for us. DH's parents also still have a full time nanny who we use often when DC is closed.
DCP just told us that starting in June she will be doing only 5 half day kids and no full time. I feel like my world has been thrown upside down and am trying to figure out what to do. I don't feel comfortable going with another in-home and there are a pros and cons for the centers available to me. Main cons are price - would need to come up with another $250-$400/month which will not be easy, and food - menus are not great and no option to send my own food. Pros would be - real full time care, no arranging backups multiple times a month or arranging who's doing pickup, and food - DD is picky and I'm hoping she would be more likely to try new things if all the other kids are eating them. Right now while I pack a very healthy lunch for her, I stick to things I know she likes.
We are playing with the idea of sticking with our current DCP for half days and using a rotation of IL's nanny, IL when they are off work, or my mom to watch her every afternoon. She would be napping right after pickup so there would only be a couple hours a day they would need to keep her occupied. The cost savings would be a huge advantage, we would be paying DCP $300 less than we are now. I would offer IL to give them the extra $300 since we are using their nanny, but I doubt they would accept. DCP also said that in a pinch we could always ask her to watch DD for the whole day if we really needed it.
Because of the cost savings and staying with a DCP we trust and love, DH really wants to try this option out. I'm getting a little stressed thinking about needing to arrange someone else to watch her every afternoon, I worry that there are so many ways this could go wrong. At the same time we are lucky to have a rotation of people around who are happy to help. What do you ladies think? Does it sound crazy?
We currently use an in-home DC who takes 5 full day kids and 5 half day kids. She came very highly recommended and we have been so happy with her. The price is very reasonable but the downsides are she is closed any time her kids' school is closed (2-10 days a month) and is only until 5pm. DH and I both work until 5pm but my mom (retired) and his mom (works 3 days a week) split doing the pickups for us. DH's parents also still have a full time nanny who we use often when DC is closed.
DCP just told us that starting in June she will be doing only 5 half day kids and no full time. I feel like my world has been thrown upside down and am trying to figure out what to do. I don't feel comfortable going with another in-home and there are a pros and cons for the centers available to me. Main cons are price - would need to come up with another $250-$400/month which will not be easy, and food - menus are not great and no option to send my own food. Pros would be - real full time care, no arranging backups multiple times a month or arranging who's doing pickup, and food - DD is picky and I'm hoping she would be more likely to try new things if all the other kids are eating them. Right now while I pack a very healthy lunch for her, I stick to things I know she likes.
We are playing with the idea of sticking with our current DCP for half days and using a rotation of IL's nanny, IL when they are off work, or my mom to watch her every afternoon. She would be napping right after pickup so there would only be a couple hours a day they would need to keep her occupied. The cost savings would be a huge advantage, we would be paying DCP $300 less than we are now. I would offer IL to give them the extra $300 since we are using their nanny, but I doubt they would accept. DCP also said that in a pinch we could always ask her to watch DD for the whole day if we really needed it.
Because of the cost savings and staying with a DCP we trust and love, DH really wants to try this option out. I'm getting a little stressed thinking about needing to arrange someone else to watch her every afternoon, I worry that there are so many ways this could go wrong. At the same time we are lucky to have a rotation of people around who are happy to help. What do you ladies think? Does it sound crazy?
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Re: Am I Crazy? WWYD?
I think it sounds doable since you are already using some of these family options for care, but I think you could also very quickly find out that it isn't going to work or find out very last minute that someone has a health issue or something and so your world gets thrown upside down again and have to scramble to get into a daycare.
My concern would be if you do find the family option doesn't work, how easy is it going to be to get into a center?
Is it the case that you can just call one up and start on Monday? Or is there a waitlist?
Also, I'm assuming your family wants to provide more care than they do now, but I would make sure of that.
We also plan on having serious talks with all the family and make sure they are all on board 100%. We think the IL will be more than willing, their nanny has almost no work to do now since their youngest is 14. I would offer it to my my as "if you want, you can watch her 1 or 2 afternoons a week", but really the majority of the responsibility would be on the nanny and my IL.
I would not assume that your DCP will have a spot. She is reducing the total spots by 50% and currently has 5 people in PT care who will not give up their spots, I would assume.
My life got much easier when we stopped having my mom watch the girls before/after MDO and much less hectic again when she didn't do DC pickup and I did. Eliminating that 10-30 minutes of chitchat with my mom changed my afternoons (I know that sounds awful).
$200/month would be worth it to me to have a hassle free schedule. $400 might be. Is there a center that meets your criteria that is viable? I'd tour with DH.
@librarychica Where I am there are no licensed in-home DCs. The one we currently use is unlicensed but because we knew the DCP personally and had many friends happy with her we went with it. I don't feel comfortable doing unlicensed again.
We will definitely need to make sure the nanny is on board and see if she wants a pay raise. She used to watch all 4 of their kids, but only 2 still live at home so she is not very busy at all (and I thinks she has gotten used to that...).
I hear what you are saying about the $200 or $400 being worth the convenience and it really helps to hear that from someone who has had a similar experience.
@bellaxanthe It's interesting you mention that because one of the things that makes me want to stay with our current DCP is our friend's LO is at our DC, but a year older, and my friends are really happy with the education he is getting from our DCP. We will be looking at starting preschool when she's 3 so you are right, whatever we choose it will most likely be for only a year.
If it were me, I would want to shell out the extra money for full time DC. The extra money would be worth not having to deal with the anxiety of my weekly schedule being sort of up in the air.
Sorry about yout current DCP-- we love ours too and would also be devastated if she closed/ re-arranged her schedule.
BFP 1- EDD 2/09/11 Missed MC DX @11 weeks D&C- 7/25/10 BFP 2- EDD 12/22/11 Natural MC @ 5w 2d BFP 3- EDD 1/25/12 DD Josephine born 1/16/12
I, too, was concerned about DS daycare food menu... it didn't strike me as all that "healthy" (though I know they meet all guidelines etc...) and DS is sort of picky, too. DC has been WONDERFUL in terms of getting him to try new things. WONDERFUL. I think it's the peer pressure.
Totally small part of the picture, I know.
I would definitely research more centers. For me, the benefits would far outweigh the extra money each month.
I think that you need to determine what is most important to you. Some people are willing to pay for convenience, some people like having kids around family, and the family is very willing.
Based on what you have provided, I would try juggling. You like your DCP, you seem to have multiple family options, and they seem to be willing. If I am reading this correctly it is potentially a $700 a month savings. Even if it wound up only being around $400 in savings, that is still $5k over the course of the year. Definitely not insignificant. After lots of different care options I am currently juggling, but I do it myself. I work from home so it is an option, but I get my kids at lunch, put them down for nap and then I have someone come and watch them for 2 hours in the afternoon. It saves me money, but I am doing it because we don't have great center options here and they love their preschool.