Weight has been lifted....

So we've been unsure of who would be taking care of Peanut once I have to go back to work. We really didn't want to use a daycare because babies in daycare tend to get sick easier and more frequently because of all the germy little kids running around. Grammy has been a pre-k teacher for about 20 years or so, and we had hoped she would be quitting her job in order to take care of Peanut for us full time. She has other plans though. She's been going to a community college for years taking classes towards a certification in child care. She has finally finished and will be graduating in a few weeks. Next on the agenda is her associates in childcare development, and then a bachelors. I am happy for her that she is finally completing this task, but it makes me sad too that she won't be helping raise Peanut on a full time basis.

Since this was discussed, we have been looking around for a caregiver -preferably a stay-at-home mom who is wanting to take in a few more kids for some extra money. We live in a 3300 acre community with I don't even know how many homes in it. Surely someone fits that bill around here? I have posted in our Yahoo group and had S look in hers as well...we finally got a hit a few weeks ago from S's group, but they wanted to start immediately. REALLY? How can you start immediately as a babysitter when I don't have a baby to give you to sit yet?? So it didn't work out. We've also looked at the Texas Registered Child Care website (I don't have it bookmarked and don't feel like looking it up - call me lazy) but it seems like most of the ones who care for only a few children aren't registered or licensed or they live too far for me to be dropping Peanut off before the van every morning - call me lazy again - but mornings aren't my thing and if I can find someone in our neighborhood, which would only require an extra 10 minutes (yes, I know baby will create more time) to drop off, that would be AWESOME!

Our other reference we had was a co-worker's sister who had a baby in February. She didn't say she wanted more kids to look after, I actually approached my friend to ask her - she lives just outside my neighborhood. Well, we had plans for her to come over and meet us and she canceled - not feeling well. Then we had tentative plans to meet later in the week - she never confirmed. My friend finally told me that she wasn't really interested. If she had been, she would have been more gung-ho on meeting us and getting everything setup.

Anyway, today a lady was coming by who used to be a bunco friend's nanny. She is currently employed at a Montessori here in the neighborhood, but might want to come back to nanny'ing (is that a word?). She came and brought a friend with her who is currently unemployed but might be looking into nanny'ing too. Anyway, after lots of small talk we finally got to the gist of the meeting - the money. Apparently we low-balled her big time. I thought she was going to laugh at our offer. We thought it was generous knowing what it costs for an infant in a daycare and what it costs for a nanny through an agency - you're looking at $225 versus $500 per week. So that pretty much ended the conversation. She BS'd a little while longer about her kids in her class and how well they minded, blah, blah. And was like LATER!

Needless to say after she left, I was bummed. This was technically the last source we had and we managed to kill 2 at once (the friend she brought). I am stressing about it and wondering why in the world Grammy can't quit for me?? Not to mention, we are down to the wire before Peanut arrives and with no care lined up for after maternity leave makes me kinda nervous. So Dean went back upstairs and said he was going to post some things on some sites - yahoo group, craigslist, etc. First he stopped at our neighborhood website where there is a small classifieds section where people ask for babysitters, dog walkers, house sitters, etc. Lo and behold, there's a posting dated 3/09/09 by a stay-at-home-mom who is wanting to take on up to 3 more kids in addition to her 6 month old. I figured it was worth a call anyway - oh and!!! she was asking for the same amount we offered the previous visitors! I called and she sounds super sweet. She actually has had ZERO people respond to the posting so she is still just home with her son. We chatted a while about child care in general and the dilemmas of choosing daycare vs. nanny and her and husband went through the same things we are!

I am so proud to say that we have a meeting setup to meet her and her son next Tuesday. If all goes well, we will have a sitter lined up to start in June when I go back to work!!!

Thank the Good Lord above for small favors!

**If you've read all of this, sorry for the long-windedness and for all the parenthesis. (Apparently I really like them today!)