Daycare cold feet

That's too bad. Is it full time care? If not, that's very expensive. If so, can you make it up with work? Keep in mind that child care is tax deductible and there is also a tax credit if you don't make enough money for the deduction to matter.

it is full time, drop off any time type of day care.

for the price, even at the 580, you get alot for your buck

not to mention the fact that the staff are all child psychology students from UT.

wow.
ok , shes in.

After seeing this place , I would have been a total fool to pass it up.

First thing i see when i walk in is (drum roll )
A wall of pictures of each kid, and art that child created.
That also, while in super mommy mode, made me think that there is a HUGE practical purpose behind that.

Being so close to the door, if ANYTHING were to happen, the police come in and someone can pull 2 pictures of a 'missing child' right off the wall immediately.

These pictures are great too. They are not 'mugshots' . They are pictures of the kiddos in action. I think Bean and I stood at that wall for about 10 minutes just looking at all the BeeeeeBEEEss ( Bean speak for babies )

The director had this adorable deep texan accent that just made me wanna copy it.
She took me through the entire school, let me see each and every level classroom and cubbyholes.

Jillians classroom will have 13 when full and a minimum 2 teachers.
AMAZING ratio!
She says minimum because, there are 2 for morning session, and then after nap, 2 for afternoon session. During their shift changes, there is at least one extra teacher in the class room to assist. So the ratio of kids to teachers never drops below 7:1.

They have about 3/4 of a acre ( yeah.. its that big) of playscape, sand pits, water tables, swings , slides, bikes, cars, balls, chalk , you name it.. outside all fenced in.
While we were there, I doubt I saw more then 40 students and 8 teachers. At times there were more, as small groups moved in and out, but for the most part there was always 8 adults with the kids. The best part about that was that they didnt all huddle together and gab.
They were spaced out almost perfectly , on the sidelines watching the kids.

I asked the woman a whole range of questions all the way down to toy cleaning.

They will-
potty train, provide all meals no matter what dietary restrictions the kiddos have, never use 'timeout' only redirection, teach them to read and write, colors, shapes , sign language and spanish, basic manners - meaning please and thank you, excuse me .. and things like that.
The center is open from 715-6pm and free drop off pick up times.

The only real requirement they have is that you drop off before 9 am so that they have had a time to get ready for nap wich is 11-2

Ok, I will stop babbling but I am completely impressed. BEYOND belief.

still expensive though.. and that has me sweating because I am truly not sure we have the money for this.
We can pull out at any time with no fees or fines.. but the wait list is close to 4 years now, instead of 2 when we signed her up at birth..
So we have to make this work.

But
WOW.. what an experience.

Shewolf--

Wonderful news about the center.

Financially, you'll be strapped for awhile, but one of the joys of being an Independent Contractor (AKA Ms. Mop) is that you can increase your hours.

So Bean has a fewer toys at Christmas and only 5 sets of playclothes instead of 15 sets. So what.

You don't have to go through fire for your kid, just through other people's dirt.

Hold your dominion.

If Beans feet are cold when you pick her up, they probably made her stand in the bathtub all day.

That is awesome news about the center. It sounds like a real winner, and with the wait list so long now, I agree that you'd be a fool to pass this up (no offense). One of the benefits of having such a great center is that you don't have to buy her very many toys because she has access to so many things there. And I totally agree with Noddy about being able to increase your hours. Do you pay the flat rate no matter how many days you take her? If so, might as well take full advantage of that and book as many jobs as possible.

WOW..shewolf this place sounds very good to me. But just one question. You mentioned a nap time of 3 hours (11 - 2) which sounds a little long to me. If it's longer than what Jillian is used to, you may have a hard time putting her to bed in the night.

Are all the kids required to take their naps? What about older kids with less sleep requirement.

I don't see this as a big concern though. Just something I thought about when I read about the daycare.

the children in her class are between 18-months to ALMOST 3 years old.

Nap time of 3 hours isnt all spent on the map.
They turn down the lights, read a book, and give them a chance to get comfortable.. making it quiet enough for those who want to nap right away, to be able to do so.

Jillian usually DOES sleep almost that long every day.
I would say her average nap time is 2 1/2 hours. If we spend our day out at the park, it can be longer then that and she always goes right to bed at 830.

So far , I am very lucky that she has a sleep schedule that she loves and goes right along with it. No matter how long her nap.


Part of the reason we were hesitant on taking it was that it was leaving us with 91 dollars at the end of the month.
So, what I did was post my information / work schedule to a group I am part of here in austin.
Those women were excited to know that I was free. Apparently they were watching my schedule too , hoping I would have days free soon.

I had gotten 2 job offers in less then a day, adn realized that I could easily fill my schedule, and take some of that money to create or pay for some sort of print advertising and I will be working all day.

We may be strapped for ONE month while I do this, but I can make this work. easily.
I just get intimidated so quickly that I forget how HIGH the demand is in my area.

We will be ok.
I can do this. ;-)

I have no doubts that you can do it! Glad to hear you going for it, shewolf.

I am sure she will be just fine...
I have just been checking out day care and expect to pay €350 - 400 (which is around $500) per month.
So you are quite lucky...
But the independence I will preserve for myself will make it worth it!

All the best for you!