DayCare?

Today I called the two daycares in town. Yes, I realize I still have 4 months before this kid comes and 3 months of maternity leave... BUT this is a small town with only a handful of childcare places that tend to fill up fairly quickly, so I thought I'd get a head start!

The thought of sending my child to daycare kind of stinks. I NEVER went to daycare and neither did Ryan.  His mom was a stay at home mommy and I was fortunate enough to live in the same town as my wonderful grandparents who watched me until I went to school. Unfortunately, we live in a town where we don't have any family. We have made some amazing friends here, but pretty much all of them work. And while I could feasibly stay home and not work... I have worked very hard at my career and after 8 years of working for the federal government, I JUST became a permanent employee this past February (ironically the same week we found out we were expecting!). I would hate to throw that away, I LOVE my job and federal jobs are VERY hard to come by.  So right now daycare is the best option for us. 

My boss has said I can bring my baby to the visitor center I work at. Which would mean I would only need daycare/childcare for 2 days a week... which makes the idea of sending our baby to daycare a bit easier! I am not sure how long I can handle bringing my baby to work, but I figure the first 3 months or so (before he starts moving around a lot) it will work out just fine. And because Ryan and I don't have the same schedule, even at the worst we would only need daycare 4 days a week instead of 5.

Any who, I called and compared 2 daycares today. I REALLY liked the first one, the lady was very nice and personable, they are VERY close to my office and super duper reasonable. The second place I called it sounded like every single kid in the entire daycare was crying or screaming! Umm... yeah that is definitely not a good sign! Lol   I mean I know we are going to have to go look at the place and meet the people before we make a decision... but based on first impressions over the phone... I would have to go with the place where the children weren't screaming bloody murder in the background!  I am waiting for a call back from the first place, because they have a waiting list, but the girl I talked to didn't know how long it was. Hopefully 7 months in advance will be enough time to make the cut! I am actually kind of nervous! I hope they call me soon!