Child care woes

Our daycare provider, the one that the boys have been with since they were infants, gave me her two-week notice the other day. She has found another job. I kind of expected it since the boys have been her only kids for 6 months now - when she lost two school age kids. Well, the boys and her own infant daughter.

I told the boys that night that she would no longer be able to watch them. It was a difficult conversation because they don't really understand that that's her job, and also that they kept saying that they love her and the baby and when will they see them? Will they still see them every day? Ugh. It was hard and it was breaking my heart. My children are experiencing a loss and there is nothing I can do to make it better. So, I ended it with that we would set up playdates with them as often as we could and that if they had more questions about it they can always come to me to ask them.

Then I began frantically looking for a new provider. For those of you who utilize out of home care, and have multiples, you know how difficult this is. Our state regulates the number of children that a home provider can have, so asking for 2 out of 6 slots is a lot - it's 1/3 of the spots. Needless to say, out of a possible 15 providers I called, only one had  slots open. And, there were a few that refused me when they found out the boys were twins?! What is that about?! Does that make them bad, or more difficult to handle??!! That pissed me off. I mean really, suck it up people, they are 4 years old. And I handle them by myself every single day. Ya know what, I wouldn't want my boys in your wimpy ass house anyway.

We went to visit the one provider with space, and while extremely nice and a perfectly suitable place for children, there were 12 school age kids there. And, not early elementary school age. I'm talking 9, 10, 11 year olds. My kids were overwhelmed. And, the days consists mostly of free play. We left. I asked what they thought and Alex kept telling me, for days, that he does not want to go there.

So, I go to the daycare center in town. More expensive, more institutionalized, but more like the pre-school environment that the boys have in the mornings. Playground, and a room full of only four year olds, with four year old toys, and games, and activities. I took the kids to visit and they seemed to enjoy it. When we left I asked them if they had to choose between this place and Miss D's which would they choose, and they chose CC. So, there we go. They will be going 3-4 afternoons a week, after morning preschool. I've decided to cut out Friday afternoon care to save some money. That had been my me time as I only work half-days on Fridays, but I figure, if I can save a little, maybe I could hire a sitter once a month for some me time. Plus, who am I kidding, it wasn't me time, it was clean the house time, and the boys can be home with me for that.

They'll start in the new place next week. I'm a bit worried about the transition.