Friday, February 8, 2008

Navigating the Maze of Finding Quality Childcare

Sounds a bit melodramatic, eh?

But, such was the title of a pamphlet I received from the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County...in addition with several pages of provider info in the geographic area I'd specified. And they are right - I mean this isn't a word-of-mouth passing fancy sort of thing, this is about my childrens' welfare when I am not with them. A pretty big deal to this WOHM. Yet, at the same time, something that seemed insurmountable two weeks ago, thus I've been putting it off. Oh, the joys of psychological defense mechanisms that actually lend to putting one in a worse position than one need be.

Of the 8-10 providers they pulled up for me, only 3 really piqued my interest, on paper. Oh, I know that paper info is totally arbitrary, but my screening methodology involved geographical proximity to home/LMNOB's school, experience with special needs children, education, and years of experience as a childcare provider. Those are the biggies, right?

Then began the phone calls.

And then there were 2 [choices]....as the 3rd didn't have room for Punkinhead on Mondays.

The first woman I called was very personable. Knew ALL sorts of stuff re: sensory integration issues, was not sure about availability as she'd just had an interview with a woman who had 3 children, but their transportation was iffy. The school bus stop nearest her house is on a busy street - which I'm not real keen on - but I put an e-mail out to Ms. M asking if any of LMNOB's classmates were on that route, and if maybe a parent might be interested in walking LMNOB to the daycare home. We go visit her place on Sunday afternoon.

The next gal was also very friendly. She's on LMNOB's current bus route - and her son who is in AM kindy rides - so there may be an element of familiarity right there. We didn't talk sensory stuff just yet - I was running out of time, as the previous woman and I had chatted entirely too long. Her home is next door to one of the houses Charlie Brown and I had looked at when buying our home - the one that Charlie Brown REALLY wanted (it had a 1000 SF shop/garage with vaulted ceilings) but it had some structural issues that we couldn't afford to address back then. I go see her on Monday morning.

Wish me luck.

3 comments:

  1. Offfaaaa...finding quality childcare. I don't even know how I would handle going about that. My first question would probably be something like...

    Do you have cameras stationed all around that can be accessed via the web??

    Good luck!!!

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  2. Good luck! It is soooo hard. With my first child I literally had ONE acceptable choice. Thank god it worked out. Hope it does for you too.

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