Childcare

As everyone has indoctrinated me by now, there is a shortage of childcare in the greater DC area. To get a daycare slot, I should've put the baby on the waiting list(s) the moment I considered getting pregnant.

As if one knew back then anything about daycare. As if there wasn't a whole slew of sooner priorities that the-soon-to-be parents had to familiarize themselves with in order to acquire the best, adequate and suitable baby gear. And the amount of baby gear there is. In another words, become an expert on all things laid out in Baby Bargains. But this is a topic for another time.

Also personally, I felt odd to put the still-not-born-baby on some waiting list. The baby didn't even have a name at that point. (It was finally settled that Ivan woudl be Ivan when he had sign the paperwork and checkout of the hospital, two days after birth. The first baby photos Andy emailed to people had the subject line of "Baby Born. Working name Sebastian Baker." Sebastian became his middle name. There are reasons behind this.)

I did, however, attend Finding the Best Daycare lecture at the Bank last year when I was nearing the end of pregnancy. While it was interesting to hear about the different options and pros and cons (ie nanny, nanny share, au pair, daycare centers, private in house daycare). But basically all the options were not feasible financially nor do they continue to be.
A few months ago I also attended a lecture on finding the best preschool for your child -- the lecturer was basically adamantly against Montessori schools. She had her reasons. They sounded tenable. But who knew. Montessori programs seem to have reached mythic proportions among parents (similar to MacClaren strollers that everyone swears by)

I also knew that in the beginning, my family, aka my dad, would take care of Ivan. My parents, my dad, actually insisted on doing so.

So now, as Ivan's about to turn one, I'm finally making some daycare progress. I filled out the application to put him on the waiting list for UMCP's preschool which he can start when he's 3 and a half. As the good lady replied to me on the phone, "No, it's definitely not too early to put him on the list. I just signed up my 6 month-old grandson."

But in the meantime, I would like Ivan to start some sort of daycare, let's say this summer. Not full time, but part time. Maybe 2,3 days a week. I think the change of pace would be good for my dad and for Ivan, who now seems to show interest in kids.
Again, when I poll and asked friends what they thought of this idea, they all chimed in that there is not part time daycare like that. That there is part time preschool for toddlers (Silver Spring's coop preschool is like that -- toddlers meet for a few hours on Thursday and Friday). That I can pay full time at a daycare place and just have him go part time. I guess I'll see.

A few months ago, I did a printout of daycare places in Montgomery county off the county's website. Finally, this evening, I mapquested all the addresses to figure out where these places are. Now next step will be to call and visit. I'm debating: to first call and see what vibe I get over the phone and then check out the places I like; or drive around to see the actual locations and weed them out that way?

In any case that one of this month's projects.

Ideally, Ivan will go to daycare 2, 3 days a week starting this summer, or maybe next fall. And then once the second baby is born (which yet has to be conceived. that's a project starting up in May), have Ivan go to daycare full time until he can enter that UMCP preschool.