Finding good care

I remember when I was pregnant and I was looking for daycare for the kids. I started early and went about the most insane plan to find a good daycare that we could afford.

I picked up the phone book, opened an Excel spreadsheet, and typed in EVERY name that was listed in the phone book into the spreadsheet. Then by each address, I looked up each one’s zip code (entered it into my spreadsheet), and looked at a map to see which ones were close to where we worked, where we lived, or somewhere in between. Then I proceeded to call EACH ONE.

After calling a few dozen of the possible ones that we could consider, I went and visited the most promising. The first one I visited was so horrible. I left there so depressed. It was dark, crowded, and the lady there made some comment about how she hoped I wasn’t going to nurse because it made it so difficult for them to use bottles when the kids are at the daycare. I wept at the thought that this was the state of daycares these days.

Then my next stop was 100% different. It was brightly painted, wide-open, friendly, and everything I wanted. I looked at some more places, but this second place I visited ended up being the place we chose, and the kids have been there ever since.

Still the process was very difficult, very stressful, and very drawn out. Deciding who is going to take care of your kids all day is a big decision. I love to work, and wouldn’t not work even if we had a lot of money (although I’d probably work part-time instead), so I wouldn’t change that. But picking a daycare is hard. There are a LOT of crap ones out there. And when you don’t have a lot of money to just go to the best one, it’s even harder to find something you can trust.

So as we are trying to decide if we want to stay at this daycare (which all in all we do trust – but is trust enough?) or move to another, I am having these flashbacks to 3+ years ago when I first went through this, and am feeling just as stressed. It is not any easier this time.

So yesterday I got the phonebook and opened my spreadsheet again. I filled it out. I entered in all the zip codes. I started making calls. I am just as stressed.

I did call a few places that may be promising, so we’ll see, but I am still conflicted with whether we should move (probably) and if so, where to go. There are good places, but many are booked full or very expensive or way out of our way, so the list dwindles. My challenge is to identify the good places in our area that we can afford. But more than that, as shown by our current situation, it really comes down to the teachers. If I call a place that sounds good, it won’t matter if the teacher sucks. Such is the struggle.