Daycare Thoughts

So, while I was in the shower this morning (The shower seems to be the only place I can ponder anything without interruption!), I was thinking that we only have 5 more months and approximately $2,300 to pay for daycare for Kellan. While I know I should be enjoying these last few months of his "little guy" time, I can hardly wait for our monthly daycare bill to decrease! That said, I also can't say enough how much we love our daycare lady, Arlene, and the good care she provides to our boys.

When Megan was three months old I went back to work part-time and Auntie Katy took care of our baby. It was so nice to leave our little preemie with family - and anybody who knows Katy knows how much she loves babies! This arrangement was great, but by the time Megan was ten months old, Katy was feeling like she needed to get out of her house more.....so we put Megan into a daycare. At first this daycare seemed great, but after a few months we started noticing things that were not so good. There were two women who ran this daycare...the babies were put in one little bedroom with a gate across the doorway and the older kiddos were kept in the basement, where they played, ate, slept, etc. The basement was quite small and dark and seemed rather crowded. These kids were not allowed to go upstairs unless they had to use the bathroom....except for the caregivers' grandchildren - they were allowed to freely roam the entire home. The kids were fed cold waffles or macaroni and cheese for lunch everyday. There were two big dogs barracaded in the kitchen. They had very menacing barks and I'm sure they were not allowed around the kiddos for a reason. The final straw was when they installed video cameras in the basement and the baby room. These women would just sit in the livingroom and watch TV all day and occasionally glance at the monitors to check on the kids. Let's just say, we did not part on very good terms.

We found Arlene through Aunt Katy's church. She is in her mid-60's and has run a daycare for more than 30 years! She is like a grandmother to the children she watches. She feeds them well, can recognize an ear infection before a kiddo even has a symptom, her house is cleaner than mine, and she gives the best parenting advice! Her yard is better than any playground and nothing is better to these kids than a hug from Arlene! She is worth every penny we pay her and then some!