(And I’m not talking about any random Robin Williams  sightings while he’s in town.)  

Sadness. Our home day care provider of 2+ years  is taking a job outside her home. It was a good fit, we had stability and Ben had his buddies he looked forward to seeing each week.

I know I titled this “Mrs. Doubtfire”, but we are actually not looking for a nanny.  We’re just trying to find a good in-home day care and it’s an educational experience.

Our search for a new caregiver is not an easy job.  We  have several factors making our search a challenge. We have 2 kids, only need day care 2 days a week, and we have an infant in the equation.

As I call from provider to provider, I either get laughed at, “Ha! Ha! You’re looking for what!?”, no call back,  or a sincere. “Sorry,  but good luck. ” We’ve found that home providers usually have openings for older kids. Infant spots are in demand and if there is an infant opening, it’s full time only. It’s been a frustrating few weeks.

I’ve looked into the day care centers but I end up being the one laughing (in disbelief) when they matter-of-factly tell me their rates over the phone. Oftentimes more than a mortgage payment and it’s only two. days. a. week. No can do.

I’ve  been using mnchildcare.org as my main resource - it’s very thorough, educational and informative. You can customize your search to your neighborhood and needs. You can also link to a licensing look-up that lets you know if your potential provider has had a negative licensing action against them. Honestly, not a bad idea to do with your current provider from time to time.

I’ve looked at  craigslist.  There’s good and bad, you must tread carefully there and really do your research. You should also use that licensing look up with home providers your find here too.

The good: We found a fantastic “drop-in” only licensed daycare  woman there last year. She only takes kids when your regular daycare is closed and she has worked out great.

The bad: I contacted one woman who sounded too good to be true. Very flexible, reasonable prices, made the place sound great in the ad.  She had an unusual e-mail address. Being the curious “Googley” girl I am -I googled her. I found a 40-year old woman with a very unsettling myspace page that did not exactly portray her as Mary Poppins and I’ll leave it at that. Onward!

So today, I’m making a phone call on a lead I just received and also crossing my fingers on another woman I interviewed this week. I’ll keep you posted.

Until then the search continues…

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 8:46 am and is filed under Childcare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.