My Nightmare Finding Appropriate Childcare has been a roller coaster ride in never expected.
When I was about 6 months pregnant, I was laid off.
I was glad for the break though.
It gave me a chance to focus and enjoy the rest of the pregnancy.
We were grateful and happy that we were able to make it work on one income too.
I was able to stay home until my son was about 16 months old. At this point it was clear,
We needed me to return to work, at least part time.
Fought it, kicking and screaming, because I wasn’t ready.
I missed adult conversations, but other than that, saw no real benefit.
Didn’t want to have to follow a schedule, and didn’t want to report to anyone.
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Most of all, I didn’t want to Leave my Son
Once I accepted my fate, I started the job hunt.
There were so many jobs out there, and I sent out so many resumes.
But I heard nothing.
I was beginning to take it as a sign.
Then I found the prefect job.
8 min from home, 3 hours a day.
The perfect transition back into the real world.
But who would watch Peanut?
I thought about daycare, but quickly realized over half the money I would make monthly would go to childcare, and that seemed silly.
So I had family watch him, and this worked for awhile.
As with most roommate situations, in the end it didn’t work out.
So I was on the Job Hunt again
I questioned leaving my job to stay home with him, but I had truly found a job I loved and didn’t want to give that up.
I talked to friends, other moms, hunted on the internet. Found a baby sitter, not too far from home.
She answered all the questions right, and the first week went great.
And then she disappeared.
Not as in ignoring phone calls, as in her stuff was gone and her mother was talking to the police.
Apparently, she met a guy on the internet and took off with him.
Seriously?!?
So now I am back to having no sitter, but luckily for me it was Winter Break, so I had my friend’s kids watch him.
Okay… one week covered, and back to interviewing more potential sitters.
Several interviews and a home visit later, I thought I had my new sitter.
She was going to be coming to my house starting on Monday.
She was bringing her child, which was perfect.
It was literally an extended play date every day.
So I confirm with her on Sunday night that we would see her in the morning.
Everything was Working out Perfect with Day Care
And then she doesn’t show up.
She didn’t answer phone calls or text messages.
OMG I was officially freaking out.
Really? does this stuff happen to anyone else?
I called my best friend and I called my boss.
Finding Appropriate Childcare
With a little rearranging of schedules, I am happy to announce I was successful Finding Appropriate Childcare whom I truly trust.
Before I had Peanut I never thought the most difficult part of work would be Finding Appropriate Childcare
In all the movies, you hire someone and they are Mary freaking Poppins… I have to ask myself “Am I doing something wrong?
Do I just attract crazy?
Should I have used a nanny website?
Could I even afford it?”
In the end, I always come to the same conclusion “I did the best I could with what I was given and I never left peanut in a situation that I was uncomfortable with.”
I guess that’s main goal over all… leave your most prized possession, your life, reason, your everything with a complete stranger just so you can make a few bucks to support said possession.
Do you have a nightmare childcare story?
Here is some good reading; Age Appropriate Chores for Kids, How to Throw a Moving Party, 10 Unique Jobs For Teenagers, How To Simplify the Wedding Registry Process with Myregistry.com and Refinishing Old Hardwood Floors.
I am dreading going back to work and I hope I don’t have to. At the moment I work from home in Nicky’s nap time. I get two hours in the day and weekend time too.
That’s a tough one!! With my first child, my husband quit work to stay home with her. When she turned two I changed jobs and started working in a preschool/day care. I was able to take my kids with me at that point which made for some interesting stories, but nothing too horrible.
i don’t think its ever easy to find that right sitter you are looking for.. it takes a lot to find one today because you truly have to do a back round check and even that sometimes isn’t any good…. its sometimes scarey , i know for my family we watch each other children. for safety reason…. thanks for sharing your story…
When I was a young mother it wasn’t even considered about work. We gave up things, no cable, no new car, we lived on a very strict budget and, looking back, it was hard but I’m glad we did it. In this day and time it’s hard to find anyone trustworthy.
I’m starting to think about taking a part time job (I have a couple cleaning jobs, but they are super flexible and I can work around when my husband is home) but I’m starting to wonder if it will be worth it in the end after paying a babysitter. I’ll have to look into it more.
As far as nightmare childcare stories, this didn’t happen to me but to my husband when he was a child. There were these twin teenage girls that used to babysit him and his brothers when they were little. Well, one of the girls stabbed her next door neighbor to death…and babysat my husband after the fact (she later confessed to her pastor about the murder). My mother-in-law cried for a week. The scariest thing was, she just did it just because. She wasn’t angry at the neighbor (it was an elderly woman) she just kind of snapped & stabbed over 50 times. SCARY!
Oh my! Those are the type of horror stories I am afraid of. Right now everything seems to be working out perfect with his sitter, so hopefully it stays that way.
My little sister is almost 9 years younger than me. My mom went back to work when she started Kindergarten. I will always remember the day when my sister was dropped off at the babysitter’s at noon by the bus (half days in Kindergarten) and there was nobody there. Fortunately, my dad arrived home from shift work not long afterward and found her sobbing on our front porch.
~Kimberly
Hey there, your post made me cry. I was reliving this story about 10 years ago. When my child turns 7 months, we need the money for the bills and if I go back to work, we have more bills (nanny/childcare). The extra amounts to so little I kept wondering if it’s worth it. But those little really help when we want to pay for activities and experiences. It was truly a mad struggle. I had so much mom’s guilt when I was working or not working. 10 years passed and I just want to shout out, this too shall pass. My kids are 13 and 10 now and they kept asking me to go back to work. Full time work.
Hi Joanne – Yes it is increasingly difficult to raise a family and stay home at the same time. Thanks for sharing your story