While the books and checklists tell you to start looking at childcare options pretty much right after conception, we didn't know if we'd be downtown or out in the suburbs so had to hold off. Once June came around figured we'd just find a place downtown so I started contacting centers for pricing and availability. We knew it would be expensive, but oh my gosh the sticker shock was still unpleasant! The going rate downtown is $300/$350 per WEEK. Yikes! Not much we can do about the price, but the real panic set it when every place was full and didn't have availability until Spring 2011-eek! I go back to work in October, so that 6 month gap would be a huge issue.
Luckily we had expert consultation on what to look for in a daycare visit. A big thank you to my sister-in-laws for their help! Jamie is the director of a daycare in Omaha and Amy has worked at the Iowa State campus daycare and will be teaching pre-school this fall. These ladies are pros!
God must have known we needed a pick-me-up with all of the condo drama - such a blessing to get an email late last week about an infant opening in October at the New Horizon Academy on Marquette. Brian and I met with the director this afternoon and toured the facility. I was pleasantly surprised with how big the space was for being downtown, and the rooms were nice and bright and clean. It's NAEYC accredited and I really liked the director and assistant director. The kids were adorable and looked like they were having a blast, and the teachers were friendly. Not that we had other options, but left feeling comfortable that baby would be well taken care of and safe, so we're going to move forward with paying the deposit to reserve our spot. If baby arrives around July 14th I'll be heading back to work the week of October 11th.
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