(Found this in the draft folder from March 17. Oops)
I have agonized over where to take Cora for daycare since early in my pregnancy. It’s hard to imagine finding someone or someplace you trust enough to hand your child over everyday.
J and I ruled out in-home care pretty quickly. We did not know anyone who could give a recommendation and didn’t feel comfortable trusting online reviews written by people we don’t know. Plus, I really want a pet free environment and it seems all the in home care I found had pets. We also felt strongly that we wanted some sort of educational aspect. For those reasons we decided a school was going to be the best option.
We had about 5 options to look into, and narrowed it down to 2 based on location, information we found on their individual websites, and in one case, finding the school was closed when I went to visit. This left our choices Kindercare or Merryhill School.
We toured Merryhill School at their open house on a Saturday in early March. The Principal took us on the tour and we were very impressed with her organization and passion for the school. The tour was about an hour long and we learned about their curriculum and each of the different levels Cora would attend before leaving for kindergarten. We were especially pleased to learn they offer a pre-k 2 class. Cora’s December birthday means she will miss the age cutoff for kindergarten and will be a little older when she actually starts kindergarten. The pre-k 2 class means she will get additional teaching to prepare for kindergarten instead of repeating pre-k again.
During that next week we took a tour of Kindercare. We were not impressed by the location we looked at. When we first walked in, we noticed it smelled strange. I made an appointment, however, the principal did not seem prepared for us at all. She basically took us to the infant room, told us how many babies are enrolled and waited for questions. If we hadn’t toured Merryhill, I wouldn’t have had a clue what to ask.
There were a ton of differences, but what sealed the deal on Merryhill was really the curriculum (I feel Cora will get more from Merryhill than Kindercare) and the bottle issue. Kindercare requires you bring bottles every day, already prepared (breast milk thawed or formula already mixed). This seems awful. Cora seems to eat a different amount every day. I would be so worried I wouldn’t send enough, but on the other hand, if she doesn’t drink it, it gets wasted. I spend precious time with the breast pump procuring that milk. It is too precious to waste. Merryhill lets you bring in a big bag of frozen milk and enough bottles for the day and they will thaw and prepare the bottles.
So we are now part of the Merryhill School family. I am so happy we found a place I am comfortable with. It is still going to be difficult to go back to work, but knowing she is in a safe place will hopefully help ease the transition.
disclaimer: I realize child care is a VERY personal decision. You may not have had the same experience I had, and probably made different decisions regarding your child care. I am in no way judging your decisions. You made the best choice for your child. I’m just sharing my experience.
Baby D Makes Three 