Daycare - well except for labor and delivery but those are short.
Last week I dropped Ben off at daycare for the first time. It took hubby and I forever to get childcare for Ben. We knew I had to return to work for 30 days or forfeit any maternity benefits I received but we didn't really know anyone that was available to watch Ben. So we prayed about it long and hard and wouldn't you know 3 days before I am to return to work the perosn my hubby mentors mentioned that his mother runs a nice, small, neat at home daycare. So we checked it out and it seems ok and Ben warmed up to the care provider right way. So we decided to go with her. She has a total of 5 kids( 1 infant and 4 toddlers) and one part time infant and then she added Ben as another part-time infant. Apparently it truely is a blessing because most daycare's don't do part-time.
The first day of dropping Ben off I was a mess...from the time I started to get him dressed to go the tears came and wouldn't stop until after I was half way to work. I just felt so bad, and he had no idea what was going on. All i wanted to do was crawl back into bed with him and quit my job. Even now, I want to quick. I only scheduled to work from 7am -1pm but it seems so long. And dropping him off is the hardest part. Some days I wake him up so he can see and spend 30 mins with his dad and I before he just gets dropped off. And that way he doesn't wake up in a strange place. The only problem is on those days he doesn't go back to sleep until I pick him up. He will fight sleep all morning.
I can't judge anyone who works or stays home. I just don't understand how people do it...everyday dropping him off is hard and the Monday after the weekend is the worse because it's like starting the process all of over again. And yes I know like anything he will adapt and so will I. I know that but emotionally the last two weeks have been draining. At the same time staying home and not bring in any income is just not an option, even if I stayed home I would have to bring him half my current salary...
It's just so much to think about...I would love to hear how other moms made it through. And what were your deciding factors that led you to quit if you did or not if you didn't?
I always wanted to be a SAHM, and I now am to my two kids - the deciding factor was that it just didn't make sense to put them in day care, it was so expensive that I would basically be working to pay for day care, and what's the point in that?
ReplyDeleteStaying home, however, is one of the hardest jobs ever, from several different angles. There's the obvious ones: Money (you learn to cut back, do without, and really comparison shop/coupon clip before buying anything.) and there's also the fact that you are with your child all day, every day (I love my kids, but sometimes I'm so desperate for a break with no children and adult interaction.) There's also the fact that you get very little recognition for the job that you do: I can't tell you how many times I hear "cut your husband a break, he works all day!" - I do too. And yes, I do have easy days where my son is a dream and he sleeps in and takes a nap and listens and it's amazing. And then I have days where he's up all night and then up all day and is screaming and throwing temper tantrums and I'm sick on top of it... I don't get a set lunch break, I don't get sick days or paid vacation... So it can be rough. But I love the fact that I've been there for every single one of my children's firsts, and that I know just what kind of care they're getting. I do wish though that Cayden could be in daycare part time to get interaction with other kids (he loves other kids, but we rarely see our friends with kids) but other than that I'm happy.
I think it's possible to do, but again, you have to budget and really stick to that budget and it may mean cutting back on some stuff.
Yeah...I know...I am just so worried...I have never really been without work...but I would love to be with my son full time. I would do play groups and other things so he got to interact with other kids...I just would really need to stick to my budget...we shall see
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