Halfway through the train ride I realized that I was supposed to pick up Buster from doggie daycare and that I wouldn't make it before closing. I got in touch with CP who was at a happy hour at the time and told him that he needed to do the pickup. He made it just in time and I finally got home at 6:30.
I tell this story because after an email from a friend in Denver who is pregnant and looking into daycare options, I realized that we may need to look into these things soon as well. So I made an Excel spreadsheet of all of our options here in our town, both facility places and in-home places that I could find on the internet. Some places I think will be ruled out simply on hours alone. Sure I work from home two days a week and those days will be easy in terms of pickup and dropoff, but the three days that I leave the house between 7-7:30am and don't get home until 6pm? If there are train problems or other issues, well, it is going to be difficult. Not to mention we have to pick a place that works with MY schedule because who knows when CP is going to be in town to help out.
And then yesterday CP was in a meeting with some of his higher-ups and was told that his group is being moved to a different facility- 30 minutes north of his current building. Once that change occurs this fall, when he is in town his commute jumps from 25 minutes to almost an hour- while I am going an hour the opposite way into the city. CP is understandably pissed as when he took this job last year he was not told that this could be an option. His boss knows that he is not happy either, so hopefully CP can work it so that he works from home one or two days a week. Ugh.
Just another reason we need to find a daycare with long hours. Blergh.
8 comments:
Most daycares (facilities and in-home) around us are open 7a-6p (some aren't even open that many hours). I'd be impressed if you find daycares with longer hours.
Also, our daycare had a long wait list ... we were on it for 10 months (and that was on the short end compared to some). You'll definitely want to find out if the daycares that work for you hours-wise have wait lists, too.
Finally, while my job is fairly flexible re. times that I work, I know a lot of other parents at our daycare whose jobs are much less flexible. It feels like most of those parents have worked out something with their employers that allow them to get to work around 8 and leave before 5 (i.e., allowing for daycare drop-off at 7 and pick-up by 6).
It's definitely smart of you to start all of this now ... not sure what the suburbs daycare situation is like, but you might wind up being very thankful you didn't wait.
I'm with Nilsa. It's very rare to find a daycare open later than 6pm. Waitlist are long here too. I'd give some serious thought about putting a baby in daycare for almost 12 hours a day. That's a very long amount of time. My work has been willing to be flexible about my hours, knowing that now that I'm a mom, my baby comes first.
Finding a good daycare doesn't seem easy. I think it is a good idea to plan ahead...
Aw yes, daycare. The option that stresses so many people out. Honestly, I would begin asking your coworkers what they do. As they are the ones who deal with similar issues with commuting, they may have some good options. The other thing to consider (which we are) is nanny sharing. The idea being is to have someone who can accommodate you for those longer days at work, but is also shared with other families.
Sorry to hear the commute was nasty and that CP's work is relocating. So frustrating! At least you got Buster!
Wow that does not sound like fun! I agree with Cristy, maybe a nanny would be a good option. It's definitely something I want to look into if/when I get pregnant. And that sucks about your husband's job. It's too bad that so much of our lives are spent working and commuting :)
Ugh that is awful! I really don't know how people commute. I'm sure someday I will have to do it if I decide to leave my company, but right now I have a 3 minute commute and I can't imagine having to deal with traveling an hour each way to get to work. I would be pissed if I were CP too!
I can't offer any advice on daycare! I hope your search is successful. The idea to ask your coworkers for suggestions is a great one, I never would have thought of that!
Sorry that you are having to deal with this frustration. Schedules and figuring out how they work can be so difficult! Sending many good vibes that you find something that fits both your schedules.
Egh. This sounds like lots of headaches. Maybe if you're home a day or two a week and CP is home a day or two a week, things would actually not be so bad. Daycare could happen still (so you all could actually work while 'working from home') but it could maybe be close to home and pickup timing wouldn't be an issue. Good luck with this. It sounds like you're going about it in the right way. I suck at spreadsheets. I'm good at many things, but organization ain't one of them.
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