Find solution
What are your Daycare Favorites?

Pick my daycare! What am I missing?

  • None of my normal "brainstorming bounce-off" people are available to chew over this question with me... and I need to choose a home daycare and confirm one or the other by TOMORROW. Eek! Which one should I pick? Disclaimer: I got really good vibes from both, liked them a lot, so I can't decide just based on personality and trust. I looked at tons of places, and these were my two favorites. I'm looking for someone to watch my two-and-a-half year old daughter and my eight-month old son. (A) woman with no kids of her own, but many years of child care experience, and good references; she watches about 4 kids right now, so with mine it would be six. Clean home, worked with a child psychologist for many years and has tons of experience. Her full-time fee works for me. Has a yard but it's being re-done right now (it will be done in a month or so). Feeds the kids healthy, seems to know what she's doing. We talked for about two hours. (B) stay-at-home-mom with a small child about my daughter's age plus one toddler boy (so with mine, it would be 4). She lives in a ground floor apartment, so there's no yard, but she has a water table and a playhouse on the patio. She is used to work in a daycare. I liked the smaller teacher/child ratio - the clincher? She's pregnant, will be going on maternity leave in November. Her pregnancy is healthy so far, and she has OB appointments scheduled for evenings once a month (her OB apparently has after-hours appointments, lucky!) - But, still, even if all went well I would have to find someone else in a few months, at least for six weeks if not more (she plans to come back, but you know, life). Is this a dealbreaker, guys? She's a teeny bit closer (about a mile, I drive to work) and her full-time fee is the same as (A), however, she would charge me a tad less for half days if I need them (and I probably will). (A) really only does full-time fee scheduling. Both have finger print clearance cards, CPR certification, references and all that. I'm torn! Agh! What am I missing? What criteria should I use in making the decision? It feels so IMPORTANT, and without someone to share this with or reassure me, I'm freaking out.

  • Answer:

    Go with A; having to go through this again in a few months is a dealbreaker (or it would be for me.)

celtalitha at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Of your options, I'd definitely go for A. You don't want to do this again, and I think 6 weeks is unrealistic in terms of maternity leave (I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and you definitely would not have wanted me watching your kids any time in the past 2-3 weeks). However, I'm a bit concerned about the ratios. Here are the http://daycare.com/arizona. What are the ages of the other kids? How many infants vs. toddlers vs. older kids? Have you observed the temperaments of the other kids?

snickerdoodle

A. A seems to be the more, for lack of a better word, professional daycare option, and the fact that her yard is being redone for the next month is less problematical than B's situation. B sounds like just a mom wanting to pick up a bit of extra cash, plus that maternity gap is a huge potential problem in a couple of ways. With B, you'd have to go to the bother of finding a substitute daycare for your children during that gap, but there's also the emotional upset your kids would go through, what with getting settled with her only to be uprooted and then uprooted again. Which is not to say she wouldn't take good care of your kids..... but then again, would she, as parents tend to do, focus more on her own children, rather than equally on yours and hers?

easily confused

Oooh, definitely A. The lack of a yard and the upcoming maternity leave would be dealbreakers to me.

Leezie

I'm a newly-single mom who hasn't worked in almost three years This is the critical element for me. It sounds like your kids are going through major upheaval right now, what with the change in your parenting situation and your return to work, and I would make continuity of childcare provider the priority within your options. They have enough change right now. I think for that reason, A is clearly the better choice for your family.

DarlingBri

However, I'm a bit concerned about the ratios. Here are the regulations for AZ. What are the ages of the other kids? How many infants vs. toddlers vs. older kids? Have you observed the temperaments of the other kids? This is a great point. You say she watches "about 4" kids right now. She can't legally watch 6 kids at the same time (unless there is a second caregiver), so this could be a legitimate issue.

Betelgeuse

I also would go with A, I think having a yard is a big deal and avoiding the maternity leave problem is the clincher.

medusa

A does say that she is planning to hire one of her old coworkers as an assistant towards the end of the summer How well does this coincide with B's maternity leave? Maybe you can go with B now then reconsider A as one of your options when you look again for someone to cover the maternity leave (either as a short term fill in or flat-out replacement). By then A's yard will be fixed, hopefully she'll have new hands, and you'll also be able to see if things have stabilised. Because I'd be a tiny bit worried that hiring an extra person also comes with taking on more children to pay for it, so it would be nice to see how that pans out before committing.

shelleycat

A is not the bargain you think with 6 kids to watch. Go with B for now, and then keep looking. Find something within 4 weeks. Fill the gap with B, and use the extra time to keep looking.

jbenben

Ugh, I hear you on the expense of licensed facilities. Having to do this all again in a few months, presumably just when your kids are getting settled at care, is a dealbreaker for me. The child-carer ratio is a bit worrying, but, if anecdotes help at all, my daughter spent five years with a women who ran a daycare out of her house--it sounds a lot like the situation you're describing, actually, right up to often having six or seven kids--sometimes even more, if someone she knew was in a bind. And, really, it was fine. I don't think that my daughter got a lot of one-on-one attention, but she got a ton of socialization and learning how to play with other kids, and how to interact with children of different ages. Also, I have to say that feeding the kids healthily is a huge, huge deal. Our care situation was great in all other regards, but the food was crap, and for the most part not stuff we'd ever eat at home. My kid has always been A Good Eater, but exposure to crap food at daycare made that more difficult than it otherwise would've been. Go with A.

MeghanC

Load more

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.