Things are looking up!

I don’t know what I did to earn the good karms, but two great things have happened in two days.

First of all, we did our taxes Thursday night and instead of paying thousands as we have since the kids were born we actually get enough back to pay off 2 of my 3 student loans! I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t make any money until September in 2009.

Then on Friday I got an email from the director of Primo’s preschool and they were able to make room for him to come full time starting in April! He’s so pumped, and now as long as the licensing department from child services approves the short-term ratio discrepancy for Bella she will get to stay at her current dayhome and we’ll only need my mom for the two weeks of maternity leave that our provider is taking.

My mom has offered to switch vehicles with us after Easter until summer break so the BG can transport Primo to school in the mornings and then I’ll pick up both kids after school. (His sports car doesn’t take child seats so we need a new vehicle in the summer. Another thing we can’t afford but will do anyway.)

Yee haw!

Have I mentioned that we’re screwed? That my dayhome provider is pregnant and when she has her baby my kids are out because they put her over-ratio and over the 6 child limit?

Because yeah. That’s our situation.

Every dayhome we’ve called is full before we get there for an interview.

The preschool is full until fall.

We have 6-8 weeks of no care for our children while I finish out the year. It’s looking more and more like the Big Guy will have to take all of his holidays for the year to be home for that time. That’s great – awesome even, for the kids, but screws us out of any family holiday, time together at Christmas, time for the kids to be with him when I go back in the fall 2 weeks before their full-time preschool starts, blah blah blah. Not ideal.

The extra crappy part? The April preschool intake filled up before I got our forms in because I got the flu. I even had them 99% completed and just didn’t take the time to email them in. Totally my fault.

So, that word that rhymes with truck? THAT.

Actually, the weeks take forever because I’m just waiting for weekends with my family, but the weeks of not blogging go by very quickly.

Work is going great. I have a great job, a great group of kids and an awesome grade one team to work with. The kids are loving their childcare provider and come home with crafts, stories and big smiles when I drag them out of her house.

And I got my first paycheck last week and paid off my Visa! So, it’s all good.

I wish I had a job without homework and evening obligations, but I’ll take what I can get. So far I’ve only attended one of the evening obligations (Meet the Teacher night) and left early so I could put my kids to bed so it wasn’t bad. Just missed a little play time, which I hate but can deal with. Last night was a staff social activity which I gladly skipped to be with my kids (we didn’t know when the BG would be home from work so I couldn’t commit) and it turned out great because I fell asleep with Primo while putting him to bed and had a 2 hour nap!

Today is a PD day (on blogging of all things…useless much? I only have three blogs.) and then…

IT’S THE WEEKEND!

We’re doing the big grocery shop of the week, buying shin pads for Primo’s first soccer season that begins next week, swimming lessons, family photos at the local Corn Maze with friends, playing at home and hitting a playground or two…just run of the mill weekend stuff!

Any big plans on your end?

For the first time ever, my kids went to be without a bath. Well, since they were old enough to get dirty enough to require daily baths.

We spent the day with my father in law. We had to get an oil change and a new van key so we had to take the van to his town and made it into a family day trip. The kids loved exploring Grandpa’s dealership and then we headed out to a lake for the afternoon. Everyone got soaked & filthy but it was great. Grandpa cooked his delicious chicken cordon bleu for supper and the kids, as usual, played on the pool table in his basement. Yes, ON the pool table. These kids get away with so much!

We try to leave there by 4:30 so we can have the kids home by 6 for bath & bed but, like always, we were running late so Primo fell asleep in the van at 6:15. He slept all the way home so when we got here we just plopped him in bed in his clothes and that’s where he stayed. Dirty teeth and all. After several weeks of 5:30 am wake ups we weren’t about to deprive him of a moment of slumber!

Bella stayed awake all the way home watching Franklin and entertaining the BG & I by singing the ABC’s gajillions of times. She loves the applause she gets to she just keeps on going! She didn’t get a bath either, but I did brush her teeth and put her jammies on since she was awake anyway. We got home about 7:30 and she was out by 7:45. An hour later than usual, and I forgot to give her Advil for her blasted molars so we’ll likely be seeing her sometime between midnight and 4 am.

With this whole going back to work crap, I was worried about losing one of my only two days of house time but I’m so glad we went away and spent time with Grandpa while also enjoying a family day. Since I only work until noon Fridays we just did the usual Saturday groceries on Friday (instead of a playdate, which sucked) so we’re pretty much on track for just cooking & a little bit of prep tomorrow and can still have lots of play time. The BG has Monday off so the kids only will be at their dayhome for 3.5 days this week…that will be so nice for everyone! He gets 1-2 Mondays a month-ish off to be with the kids and once my mom retires (Thanksgiving!) then she’ll be able to come hang out with them once in a while too. We’d love it if they never had to spend the full 4.5 days there, but it’s bound to happen – especially when it’s crappy driving weather. The nice thing is that they absolutely love it there and we don’t worry about them at all. (I know! Such a change for me!) Bella wants to go on the weekends too, but Primo’s having a bit of a tougher time. He really likes to go but he wants me to stay there with him. One day last week when he’d had a particularly crappy sleep he called me on my cell at work crying. Ripped my heart right out of my chest and I was ready to quit, but when I called an hour later to check on him he was having a grand old time and was like “Yeah, what? I’m fine! Bye!”

Yeesh. Kids.

I’m tired.

I’m leaving for my mom’s today for a week or so with the kids. I’m still plugging away at cleaning and organizing stuff that was my dad’s and getting rid of chemicals etc that my mom would never use. Some exciting trips to the landfill & toxic waste disposal are in store.

Once I get back, we have a day trip to the zoo, one day of playdates (one at the babysitters and one at a friend’s house) and then I’m back to work full time. Ack! I am SO NOT READY. Normally I’d have a freezer full of meals prepared but we haven’t had money to buy any extra groceries so I have absolutely nothing prepared. I’ve bought all of the kids supplies so they’re ready (and so excited, contrary to myself) but I haven’t been to the school once or even checked my email. I have nothing ready. Nada. This from the type A completely anal teacher of the past who spent the whole summer at school to get ready for fall. This time I’m flying by the seat of my pants. Getting to school at 8:15 and leaving at 3:31 (noon on Fridays), and not spending a minute of my children’s awake time on work – school, house, blog or otherwise.

I have a bit of a panic attack when I think about going back, but since we’re now using the line of credit for things like feeding the kids, I know it’s definitely time. They will be 100% fine and are going to what I think will be the most fabulous dayhome of all time (better than home, maybe, but I hate to admit it) but I’d still rather them be with me. Even if it was half time it would be better, but my school district frowns upon that and wouldn’t give it to me. It costs them too much money to pay benefits for two teachers. Blech. It’s always about the money, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m just going to thoroughly enjoy my last 12 days as a stay at home mom and not think about going back until I actually walk in the door. Three and a half years at home is better than many people get so I’m trying to just count my blessings and quit bitching. It’s not easy.

We’re slowly beginning the quest for childcare for the fall when I return to teaching. I am NOT happy about it, but there’s this thing called a pension that is calling me back to work even though I’d rather be with my own children until they’re in school. Gotta think long term, especially in this economy. Blech.

Anyway, we had our first interview this week with a childcare provider, and it was brutal. We have a formal interview that we do (5 pages…let me know if you’re looking for care and you want it – it worked really well) and she did okay, but my mommy antennae were vibrating from the get go. So were the big guy’s daddy antennae.

She’s brand new, opened just this year, and has put a lot of work into getting “officially” ready including the preparation of a website and paperwork. Our first bell went up when we looked at her site and saw directions to her house and pictures of some of the children. Let’s just shout: “Hello, pedophiles! Hello kidnappers! Cute children here without their parents!” Holy crap. Everything else looked good, though, so we decided to pursue the interview with her. She just lives a 3 minute drive from us so it would have been convenient.

Earlier in the day that we were going to interview her, I went for a run and ran by her house. In the driveway was a rusty old car that was dirty inside. Strike two. I’m a snob, and if you can’t afford a car that looks like it runs, you probably have dirty old crappy toys and lower standards than I’d accept for my child.

We still went for the interview, though, just to get the first one over with.

She greeted us at the door, and the first thing we both noticed was that she’s a mumbler. No person that will be modeling speaking for my child will be a mumbler. When Primo didn’t say hello to her when I asked him to (which is weird for him), she stared at him blankly. Any person who knows children would have been at his level introducing themselves. Strike three. You’re out.

Still, it felt rude to cancel the interview upon walking in the door so onward and upward downward we went..

Neither of her children said a word while ee were there. They’re the same age as my kids. That’s not normal. Sure, mine were early talkers but most kids I know enver shut up – particularly in their own home. Strike.

While the Big Guy was playing with our children, he was looking around the house. The exersaucer was full of food and there was a bunch of old food under it. That happens – I get it…but she knew we were coming and didn’t clean it. And it was just her and her own kids all day, so she could have if she’d had cleanliness as a priority.

She did quite well when it came to rote answering the questions…”I clean the toys once a week and many of them once a day.” [Not. Obv.]

When asked more probing questions, though, she had no idea what I was talking about. She had no idea how time outs were supposed to be done, other than the “1 minute per year of age” that even my imaginary pet monkey knows. She’s never even heard of Barbara Coloroso or 1-2-3 Magic or…so many more things I asked about. The lack of evidence of any early childhood education was astounding. FYI, breeding does not qualify you for childcare.

My feeling? She can’t afford to pay for her own childcare because she has no education and can’t get a good job, so she’s opening a dayhome with no education, no experience and no clue what she’s getting herself in to. Our parent antennae are screaming NO.

She’s not with an accredited agency, which is totally fine and occasionally better, but when asked why she told us that she interviewed with the largest agency in town and they “wanted to take $150 right off the top and what they wanted would take way too long.” What we heard? “I am in this for the money and I don’t want to put any extra effort into it if I don’t have to.”

Yuck.

I know the perfect person is out there, and I’ll give up my career before my children will go anywhere that’s not perfect. We found her last time (you know, when I worked for all of two months between my children), and she retired. There’s got to be another one, right? At least I’ve got 5 months to look.