DAYCARE DILLEMA

🌷When we found out we were pregnant with Evie, we wasted no idea signing up for daycare. Primarily, we wanted to put it out into the universe that our baby girl was 100% coming. Secondarily, when I was pregnant a few years ago, we visited a daycare we loved, and there was a long waitlist for enrollment at the time. We assumed this would be true this go around, so we wanted to get a head start. 

We signed up for the daycare almost a year ago, knowing I would be going back to work on April 1st. We were told we would start at number 33 (or maybe it was 45) on the waitlist, but by the time Evie was ready to officially enroll, there would be room. As of January this past year, we were #3 on the list! We felt excellent. We were certain, come April, we would be off the list and Evie would go to our preferred daycare with amazing teachers, a convenient location, and a place that felt safe and comfortable and trustworthy.

Imagine our surprise when we reached out to confirm that we would enroll Evie in a couple weeks, and were told there has been NO movement on the waitlist since January. The very earliest a spot would be available would be mid June. Well over two months from now.

I do not have the option to not go back to work full time. It was already a stretch for me to work part time, fully remote, while also caring for Evie. I'm not sure how my employer would respond to me asking for an extension. Furthermore, I am ready to go back to work and continue working on my career. I love being with my baby, but I also want to get back in the groove of our new normal with two parents working outside the house.

Phil and I scrambled and found a daycare that could get us in at the last minute. If I'm being honest, I was almost turned off by the fact there was no wait list. The facility was nice. The staff was nice. So why do I feel a little off?

The parenting lesson of "letting go of control" continues to rear its ugly head. My mind is playing tricks on me. I'm sure this place is just fine, I just have this idea that there must be something better about a daycare if its difficult to enroll (like our first choice).

Regardless, here we are. Evie will go to this new school and I am letting go of control over the situation. I hope that in a couple months' time, my mind will be put at ease - either we love this new place and choose to keep her there, or, we take our spot at our "first choice" daycare when a spot becomes available.🌷