Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Daycare Decisions


Sometimes typing things out and getting them on virtual paper helps me make decisions so here we go......
2 Things before I get started:
1. This isn't going to be a literary masterpiece, I'm typing this out as fast as I can so you guys can comment (the 4 of you) and
2. Its a much longer dramatic story but I just don't have it in me.
First Day of Daycare. August 2011

We have been at Daycare A for exactly 2 years. F started there when he was 3 months old and I remember our first drop off there like it was yesterday. His infant teacher has become a family friend and someone we know we could call if we needed help. I would put her as our emergency contact if I could!
F with Miss "Cookie". 
It is a great daycare, provides everything he needs and he has made some lifelong friends. One of these friends we will refer to as his "girlfriend". They have been inseperable since they were itty bitty and every day on the way to school he says, I wanna go see "girlfriend". And I wanna go see "Teacher". He loves his teacher to pieces also.

There have been a few times when I have been at my wits end with Daycare A. There was a period of teacher shuffling awhile back and he would have bruises and bumps that nobody had caught, we would be dropping him off in a different room every morning it seemed and it was just a time that things didn't feel quite at ease. Kids pick up on this and he HATED dropoff for quite some time. Things have leveled back off but we are getting ready to switch to a new room and to a new teacher we haven't ever really met.

One of his buddies left the school for a new Daycare, Daycare B (a HUGE Church in South Charlotte...I'm sure you can figure this out)...and the parents were telling me about it and it sounded really nice. I know "girlfriend"'s parents had thought about switching to there before so I mentioned it to the hubs and to them.

Well 2 days later we are in Daycare B on a tour and eveyone is super excited. Me..well, I don't do change well. In fact, I don't do it at all. And I was seriously hungover from a crazy wedding weekend and slammed at work and I just didn't want to think about it. But we had to make a decision that DAY. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. I couldn't leave Daycare A where he had been since I was dragging in a cooler of boob milk. Daycare A hadn't done anything wrong. What would he think had happened to his teachers?

But the opportunity at Daycare B blew us away and by us I mean the hubs ran over there and put a deposit. They were the last 2 kids to get in before it was full.

Open House day came and I had to work...but F LOVED it. He didn't want to leave. He and his girlfriend ran around and met the teachers and played...etc. It went well. Mama is happy, I went out and bought all the items for his first day of school.

Our current Daycare A plans this huge Carnival to "meet the new teachers" (something we wished they had done weeks ago since there had been no communication of the kids switching classes yet...just rumors) and the kids go and have a great time.
F and Girlfriend Halloween 2011
Here is the issue: Now F's girlfriend might stay at Daycare A. I don't blame them, it is a hard hard decision and we have loved this daycare for 2 years.

My issue is now that I have seen fancy Daycare B do we switch? Do we split these two best friends up at the age of 2.5? What will F think? Do we stay where we are? Will I always wonder how he would have benefitted from the fancier school?

**Daycare B has no windows in the classroom. This is something that has bugged girlfriend mama and myself from Day 1. Is that a big deal? what do you think?
**Daycare B also has the same dropoff people each morning...something that makes me feel good that he will always be seeing his teacher in the morning instead of a floater from another room.
**Daycare B has a science lab, computer room, and indoor playroom if its raining.
**Daycare B is faith based. We could get a little more religion going on in the F household.
**Daycare A is smaller and more like a family. Its like Cheers when you go in that place.
**Daycare A is familiar and wouldn't be this huge jolt of a change
**Daycare B you can text your teacher if he had a bad time at dropoff and she will let you know how he is
**Daycare A is around the corner, Daycare B is 2 miles farther

We really need to let Daycare A know if we are staying or not and if we are eating our deposit at Daycare B. I cannot wrap my brain around why this decision is so hard but it is.

What would you do?

Peanut. 


6 comments:

  1. I would ask yourself which aspects are more important for your child to have that are important to you. Is it the best friend, the curriculum, the extra bells and whistles etc? I was blown away when we looked at daycare's in terms of how nice some of them were. I thought I had it all figured out with this really nice one. I then walked into one that was not the fanciest of them all but knew my child would get a dose of Jesus everyday. That is what is more important to Ryan and I than anything for our child to learn about. That was missing from all the other daycare's. To others that may not be important, and that is fine, it is what works best for you and what you want for your child. Good luck. It is a super hard decision and I don't look forward to my first drop off day:( I think you need to go with your gut feeling. Hope this helps in some way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recently made this choice from a newer, bigger, fancier daycare and my church daycare-smaller, more intimate, more faith based, and with familiar friends. I ultimately choice the smaller option and have not looked back. To me it was the experience that was more important than the facility. I have no regrets.

    ReplyDelete
  3. From my experience, if you were totally happy at daycare A, you wouldn't be looking! Change it up at 2.5 years he can see his best friend on weekends! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know if I am one of the "4" but I can share in your thoughts. My girls were at an in home daycare for the first 3 years of their life. Going to WP, a nursery school, was a HUGE adjustment. That being said, if you feel like F will get more of an education at Daycare B I would do it in a heartbeat. Kindergarten isn't what it was when we were kids. They are expected to read! Ha!

    I think that the opportunity at the new place is one that you shouldn't pass up. Just my two cents.

    ReplyDelete