Bane of my existence: Part II

The much awaited second installment...day care is the second bane of my existence. The number one problem I have with it is that, frankly, I don't want to have to send Noah to day care at all. I wish I was rich and had a nanny by my side so that I could still work and have Noah with me all day. Unfortunately, Noah is not a good napper and I can't get anything done when I stay home with him, so off to day care he goes.

That said, I do like our day care person. She is an older woman who raised 5, now grown, kids. I have always felt that she seems like a very nurturing, motherly lady, and I think that she genuinely likes Noah and that Noah likes her. She takes care of Noah, a 9 month old, and two 2 1/2 year olds. I think this is a pretty good ratio of kids.

But of course I also have my complaints:

1) Very expensive. I don't want to put price tag on the care of my child, but the truth of the matter is that we are paying nearly as much for day care as we are for rent. We interviewed other options, which were cheaper, but we didn't like anyone else as much.

2) Distance. I drop Noah off in the morning and Grant picks up after work. It takes me 1 hour to walk my giant baby in his car seat, in a stroller, with all of his stuff (at least 25 lbs. total) to the day care place. The other day I got caught in a torrential down-pour and had to walk 30 minutes while it was pouring rain. Noah, please note that again I expect Mother's Day presents because of this. I don't drive, so I feel this complaint is kind of my fault, but then again, with as expensive as day care is, we couldn't afford a second car anyway. 

3) Language barriers. Our day care lady is Persian and her English is passable, but it is definitely not as easy to communicate with her as Grant or I would like. For most situations, it is okay, but I often worry about unusual situations popping up and how we'd get what we need across. 

The latest drama that made me write this blog is that, evidentially this past week Noah has wanted to be carried constantly. So she basically asked us not to carry him so much over the weekends because he gets used to constantly being in someone's arms. I do understand her point, because she does have another baby she needs to deal with. And I will admit that lately Grant and I have been carrying Noah more than previously because Noah likes to lay on his back, but we're so freaked out about the back of his head being smushed on the ground, that the second alternative is to hold him upright. But still, the fact that we are having this conversation at all makes me feel really bad. Really bad. Plus, (and I am going to sound like one of those annoying parents who thinks their kid can do no wrong), I don't believe that she has to carry Noah ALL day. Even with the additional carrying we have been doing, we still leave him alone sometimes and he is fine. Maybe this week he just wanted the attention. Poor little guy.