Daycare

A long while ago I implied that I may have found a part time daycare option for Edie, but said I didn't want to go into details until it was a reality. Um, yeah. Essentially I got overwhelmed and didn't reach out in time to secure this spot. I got to that busy place where it suddenly seems easier to keep muddling through the way you are rather than take the time and effort to look for a new solution. Flash forward like 5 months to this week, and it would appear that it's as good as a sealed deal that Edie will start part time daycare in July. Exciting!

My freelance event work has been picking up and I find that while I may not love every event (or every client) that I am enjoying the balance of working outside the home some. And the money part sure doesn't hurt either. I feel really lucky to have spent the first year of Edie's life at home full time and the last 10 months only working minimal hours with free childcare. That said, the time to seize the day seems to be now - Edie is ready developmentally for more stimulation and structure and I'm ready to take a chance and see if I can build my career back to something in the range of 40-50% and find a new balance. In a way it was a simple decision, but now that it's made, I'm realizing what a big one it is.

SO. Humor me for a minute and let me dish about what I'm hoping is going to be a great opportunity for both Edie and me.

I found this woman (Jen) who runs a small daycare out of her light-filled craftsman home through one of the other moms in my playgroup. Her daughter has been going to Jen's house 2 days a week for a year or so and loves it. Which leads me to the most exciting part about this daycare situation: The daycare happens to have one opening right now - two days per week and those two days are the same exact same days that Edie's friend (my friend's daughter) Alison Jane (AJ) goes to this daycare. So Edie will have a built-in buddy at daycare! Edie and AJ have known each other since they were infants, have always played really well together and I heart the idea of them finger painting and racing baby strollers around together twice a week. There are only 4 other kids in addition to AJ and Edie (2 of whom are the children of the daycare provider), so I love that she'll get the routine of a daycare/preschool type situation, but without the toddler-snot-manufacturing-machine feeling I got at some of the big daycare facilities we visited when I was pregnant. The house is not too far from ours and best of all, really affordable! The kids get outdoor time every day and her backyard is really lovely with a large grassy area, swing set, playhouse, a funny kid's sized boat and a garden area.

Edie and I are going to do a drop-in next week for an hour and a half so she can acclimate and I can get all registered. When we visited last week for the first time, Edie spent the whole time ignoring me and racing from room to room playing with the pink retro kitchen set and scribbling on the chalk easel; when we left she waved and said, "Bye bye Jen's house!"

Now the pressure is on for me to build my freelance event work into a 50% gig (my Mom will still come down for a partial day once per week). It's probably evident from my post, but I'm really hopeful that this is going to be an exciting next step in our family's evolution.