Childcare Quest, Part 2

JP ended up leaving work early yesterday, so he was able to come to the two daycare appointments with me. I was actually kind of surprised that he wanted to come, but he's taking this whole fatherhood thing quite seriously :) I had my notepad of questions, pen ready, and just screamed "first-time mother".

The first provider was "fine". She seemed very nice, obviously enjoyed children, and the kids there seemed happy and comfortable with her, but there were too many of them for our liking and it was all just a little unorganized and messy and dark and... I'm not even sure, but it just wasn't right for us. The second one we loved. The woman was very nice, spoke barely-accented English (it was extremely hard for me to understand the first provider, I don't think perfect English is necessary for an infant- I care more about other characteristics, but I need to be able to understand her on the phone and in person), and her apartment had a very warm, inviting feel. She has four babies/toddlers right now- one is leaving in August, so she'll have a spot open for us. Our baby would be the only infant with the next oldest 13 months. Each parent provides their own playard for the baby/toddler to sleep in (I like that) and she has a quasi-schedule for the kids with different activities each day. There were two still waiting to be picked up when we arrived and they were both very happy, smiley, and obviously comfortable with her. All of the parents who use her are graduate students and she had Excellent recommendations (I called them all- one started her daughter there at 6-weeks, our son will be 7-weeks, so it was nice to know another parent was so happy with her when their baby was so young).

So I don't think we're looking around any more. I really really liked the second provider and think I will feel comfortable leaving our son in her care while I'm in class (whether or not I cry on my way to school that first day anyway is a whole other issue). A dad came to pick up his toddler while we were in the hallway walking up to her door, and we heard her tell the dad all about what his son did that day, how much he ate, how much he slept, etc. and the little boy gave very cheerful waves goodbye and "see you tomorrows" as they were leaving. I just had a good feeling about everything there.