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Friday, September 19, 2008

pita

in between busy times at work today, i made quite a few attempts at talking to potential daycare providers. i left quite a few messages and only one person out of those messages i left has actually returned my call. i talked to quite a few people as well. out of the group i actually spoke to, only 2 have made an impression deep enough for me to want to load up the car and spend 20 minutes with them to try and decide if i want their help in raising my toddler.
you see, i have had some minor issues in the whole daycare process. i have no clue how daycare works in other states, but it seems as though the state of florida, or at least pinellas county, florida, doesn't cater to the young working parent. there are limited daycare centers that provide infant care to children under the age of 18 months or even 2 years. and if they do, they're insanely expensive. the in-home providers seem to be the ones who have found the jackpot on the industry. what this means is that we have to call (getting an extensive list of names from the licensing board) one by one. it's like cold calling. talking and deciding if we actually want to meet one of these fine ladies. we started last year with my calling in august for a baby due in october for care to begin in january for when gabby was about 8 weeks old. in august of 07, i was laughed at more times than not for calling so early. so i waited until i had a very miserable 6 week old to pound the pavement and find care. we interviewed the only 4 people we found in our area who actually had availability, because they are only allowed to have 3 infants in their care at a time. out of the 4, we chose the best of the rest.
for the first 4 months we thought everything was great! she gave us a report everyday that gabby had a great day. everything was perfect. gabby loved going there and squealed in delight at another little 4 year old there. she was, however, very cryie at home and i always thought i was doing something horribly wrong and that my child hated me! she was always perfect at daycare, so miss perfect daycare lady told me!
then i lost my job, gabby was home with me for 2 weeks and we had our first plane trip with her. we returned and when gabby went back to daycare, all of a sudden she was a hand full and miss perfect daycare lady had a meltdown and said she couldn't take it anymore. gabby was miserable and had been for the last 4-1/2 months and we needed to find someone else. this all happened during my first week at a new job. so, in a scramble, we found a new daycare provider. this women has been a godsend. we did, however, know when we chose her that she only takes babies from 0-12 months and that we'd have to be on the hunt all over again right before gabby's first birthday. so... here i am. doing it all again.
all i can say now is what a Pain In The Ass.

more to follow.
right now, i need sleep. and tomorrow is my day. MY DAY to sleep in. WOO FREAKIN HOO!

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