Daycare vs. Nanny

The discussion on daycare vs. nanny continues as we complete our rounds of viewing the day care centers in this area. Of the four we visited, the top choice goes to the Foster City Marin Day School, followed by Redwood City Marin Day school, Kindercare Foster City, and finally in last place, Palcare in Burlingame. Some of the things I noticed along the way was how organized were they? Did the place seen chaotic? Was there a good sense of security? Were the children well attended to? Did each infant have their own place for the items so that nothing got mixed up? Did they sanitize things regularly? All of these questions never came into my mind until I started looking at these sites. I never realized that when I was a kid, let alone a baby, these were the things my parents had to consider. Although, back then my mother was able to stay home with us so that made things easier. Unfortunately, we won't have that luxury in this expensive place we live in.



Then there is the discussion of whether a nanny might be good. I mean, we want to have more than one child, but can we afford to have two kids in daycare, which would run on average $1400 per child. Then the thought of one person being responsible for your child and how much trust that involves on behalf of us parents. Especially since this is our first, we are hypersensitive to what "could" happen should we put our little girl's life in the hands of an irresponsible person. I would probably set up web cams all over the home to be able to check at work. I would also try to have my parents overlap in order to provide some level of accountability of this new person, but then I also don't want my parents to feel that they are not needed or we are hiring this person to replace them. I get a little crazy thinking of these things. In any case, we're going to have to definitely find childcare between the months of March to June since Mimi has to complete her training and I cannot afford to stop working since I run the clinic. It is as simple as that.



Mimi seems to be doing well this week. There does not seem to be any severe pains in her body. She in fact has been able to go swimming at least twice this week, which is more exercise than she has gotten most weeks of this pregnancy. Also, her appetite is definitely there with nothing to really slow her down. She is eating for two and her ability to enjoy food without the pains of nausea and vomiting is quite a blessing. The only bad thing is that I want to enjoy the food with her so I have eaten a bit to my heart's content which has resulted in some further weight gain since only this week have I gotten back to my exercise routine after the healing of my shoulder.



I finally had another talk with my parents about the best time for them to come and see the baby. We decided that it might be better for them to come after the baby is born and either right before Mimi's mother goes back to Taiwan or after she goes back to Taiwan. This way, we don't have too much over lap. I mean, let's face it, the purpose is for them to see the baby and we would of course, love their help. With two sets of parents here I definitely don't want one or the other feeling that they are being asked to do more than the other, resulting in feeling less valued or more valued. I also want to make sure that Mimi and I have time to spend as a family of our own. Finally, I have to ask myself, how much is the baby going to change from the day she is born to two weeks afterwards. My guess is probably not much.

As I mentioned earlier, many of our friends are also having children. Today is the baby shower for Eunice and Alpha. Yes, I will be going. I guess I always thought baby showers were for the women and women only. I guess things are changing. I decided to go with Mimi since we might be able to do some city dining as well. I also want to support her. In another sense, this baby shower thing will eventually come back to us. I mean, how many have we attended and given a gift. When we have ours, that will be redemption time. That is right, all those times we gave money or bought gifts, we will finally get our deposit back. Yes, I know this sounds petty, so it is good for a laugh and that is about it.

I guess that is about it for this week. We're doing well and continually preparing for our baby. God has been very good and in the mean time we enjoy the company of ourselves with our baby girl carried by Mimi.