I had originally said we'd do it at 12 weeks.
I'm now almost 25 weeks.
Oh shit.
We have our eye on a downtown Day Care that is a long shot. The problem with most of the centres in our area (that we like) are the "priority lists". For example, first dibs go to Alumni, Government/Public Service Employees, Employees working at X company, in X office tower. I guess that's what happens when you live where most people work and go to school.
We're being added to the (already existing) waitlist of the Day Care of our choice but priority is given to Public Service workers so we doubt we'll get a spot. We're going to have to apply to a few more and hope we get in.
Our end goal is to land a spot at a Montessori School by my work but that would start at 18 months/July 2011. We have a 6 month gap to fill if we get into that school otherwise most other Montessori's start at 2.5 years. So far I've seen so many Day Care Centres that start at 18 months. We have a 12 month mat leave and then we have to scramble to find care for the first 6 months back at work? And these were NOT Montessori - just regular Day Care that start at Toddler. I don't get it!
FX for finding a good spot. If all else fails we're going to have to cough up the $$ to send Sadie to one of the Centres in our office towers. Hopefully D's is nicer than mine because the one in my tower is very much the LAST RESORT - playground is near a popular smoking door. Um. Gross!!
Right now I'm calling Day Care Centres that are located in fancy Condo buildings and booking tours. That should be interesting!
Hoping you find something you love that works!
ReplyDeletegood luck. don't count on the waiting lists either. we were on a few when i was pregnant with riley but never got a call. let's say you sign up for jan 2010 but a spot is available in dec 2009 then someone in dec who may have signed up after you gets the spot because they want it earlier. we had no luck with those ones because they're subsidized but got in right away to kids and company (a chain) because they don't have subsidy. we love it there and it's not cheap either. they also allow part-time unlike other places. we have webcams to peek in on the kids too.
ReplyDeletegood luck. daycare searching is tough and we're still struggling with the fact that we'll be paying over $1900/month for 2 kids when i go back to work.
a lot of montessoris also require potty trained kids at 18 months which sucks. riley's still potty training at 2.5.
So stressful. We just finished putting our names on a bunch of waiting lists too! Fingers crossed for you.
ReplyDeleteStacey - Kids & Co. is the one in my building that I'm avoiding. I really dislike the location which is my #1 issue (near smoking door, at busy intersection, no trees, daily walks through food court rather than outside). As mean as this sounds the subsidy spots are a pain. Of course I'd be singing a different tune if we qualified!
ReplyDeleteThis IS so stressful!!
12 month maternity leave!!! WOW!! The max I get is 12 WEEKS. I'm envious!
ReplyDelete12 month maternity leave? Whoa, this is when I wished we lived in CA. I get nothing, but we do have the 12 week family and medical leave act which is unpaid...so I hve saved my vacation and sick time for 2 years to have that 12 weeks paid. Gotta love America. I have also been looking at care and since we live and work in the burbs, it isn't as bad as a metro area. Good luck though...
ReplyDeleteOh that sucks. Our location is really good but there is greenery outside and they have a yard. They do walks indoors only when the weather isn't good otherwise they go out. The walking indoors isn't bad because they avoid smog, rain, etc. and still get out for a walk which the kids love. The outdoor area at our place is by itself so no smoking and they also walk in the park areas of our complex like to the fountain. But our building is a set of 3 in Scarborough so not downtown which means more green. Too bad they're not the same though because we really love it there--the workers are amazing.
ReplyDeletenext to the smoking door?! No thanks! I hope that you are able to snag a spot in one of the other daycares!
ReplyDeleteJen & Laurie - I sometimes forget how lucky we are to have the benefits we have. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to get only 12 weeks and unpaid. Our year is paid at 55% up to about $400/week. It makes me feel sick that you are not given the same opportunity.
ReplyDeleteStacey - Wow. That sounds A LOT better than ours. I asked D to find out more about her Day Care and it is on the 10th floor of the building. We'll need to tour to see if there is any outdoor space... The only good news is that we qualify for a priority space for both alumni and location!!
Heather - Yeah, I know. Top priority is for my child's day care to be a non-smoking environment! Seriously, what were they thinking? There are signs up that say you need to be 9 feet from the play ground but STILL. With wind that is not far enough and it is not always enforced.
ReplyDelete