Tag Archives: daycare

Stuck in a Bind

It’s the week of finals, so when my son woke up with a high fever last night I was more than a little worried about what the following day would bring. I gave him some medicine and comforted him as best I could until he fell asleep again. We made it through the night only to find that the fever had not subsided this morning. Most daycares are sticklers when it comes to caring for sick children, and for good reason. They can’t have all the other kids getting sick, and our daycare is no exception. Normally I would take … Continue reading →

Daycare More Expensive Than College?

I heard something pretty shocking the other day on the radio. The DJ was talking about how the price of daycare for an infant is now more expensive than a year’s tuition in a public college (such as a technical school). On average, parents can expect to shell out $18,000 a year in order to have their baby cared for on a full-time basis. I guess that makes me feel somewhat better since college is just around the corner for my oldest son. He will be attending a technical school that offers an aviation program. I know they say you … Continue reading →

The End of Daycare

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This week my son had the most important unofficial graduation of his life. He “graduated” from daycare. You might remember our hesitation about placing our son in daycare months ago. Despite our overall positive experience with the daycare itself and the daycare providers we are certainly overjoyed to have finally reached the summer months and reconnect with our sons weekday activities in the comforts of home. While my wife was in a meeting this past week I took our nearly-out-of-daycare son to a nearby park and places his little body on the teeter-totter. He instinctively grabbed onto the little bars … Continue reading →

Babysitting Co-Ops

Babysitters are expensive, and living on one income can make it hard to hire one. So what are you supposed to do when you have to go someplace without the kids? If you are lucky enough, you are blessed to have family and friends who are willing to provide free babysitting services. However, if you are not so lucky, you may want to consider establishing a babysitting co-op with other parents in your area. A babysitting co-op is an arrangement with several parents to swap babysitting services with one another, at no cost. Babysitting co-ops can be started with several … Continue reading →

Happily Clapping

I noticed a new skill in my son the other day: clapping. He was sitting on his little playmat, surrounded by toys, when he heard a song that my wife had previously played to him in the womb repeatedly. He got a big smile on his little face, his eyes lit up bright, he readied his entire body and flung his arms up and behind with a great force in order to bring them back together and create that marvelous clapping sound. My son puts his entire being into clapping and if he is sitting up throws himself off balance … Continue reading →

The Daycare: One Month

We’ve had our son in daycare for a month now and I must admit things have been much better than we could have imagined. Our fears of leaving the care of our son in someone else’s hands has not completely gone away but we are quite comfortable and confident in the staff at our daycare (even if we still think we’d be doing a better job ourselves). That said, the experience has been a positive one for both our son and his parents. This marks the one month reflection of a difficult decision. One month ago we were worried about … Continue reading →

Poor Economy = Fewer Kids in Daycare: Who’s Watching Your Children?

Parents around the world are cutting corners these days due to the struggling economy. Some have restructured their household budgets to eliminate family vacations while others no longer go out to eat or have decided to give up their weekly trips to the movie theater. For other families, who have suffered layoffs or a reduction in work hours, the nation’s economic troubles have meant pulling their children out of daycare. According to news reports, daycares are the latest causality of the financial crisis. One of the hardest hit childcare centers is in Rockford, Illinois, located about an hour northwest of … Continue reading →

Save Money by Hiring a Baby-Entertainer Vs. a Baby-Sitter

The other day I was talking with a girlfriend of mine about my various home-based businesses and how hard it was finding time to catch up. Last year, I hired a high-school student to watch my children two days per week while I went to a coffee shop to catch up on e-mails and write. She was wonderful, but frankly when I factored in the cost of the drive, my coffee and her services I am not sure if I was able to make enough money to make up the difference. “Why don’t you hire my daughter to watch your … Continue reading →

Summer and the Single Parent

I don’t know about you, but in the years since I’ve become a single parent—I dread summers! Summers are definitely the most challenging time for me in terms of keeping track of the children, making sure they are cared for and their time is reasonably structured and we are able to do at least some family summer stuff. All this while continuing to work and run the household. Without the inherent structure of a school day and extracurricular activities, summer time can be a struggle for the single parent. In addition to the time management aspects of the summer vacation, … Continue reading →

Income for Single Moms

For many women going through a divorce or death of a spouse, starting over as a single mom is tough. Although challenges include running the household and supporting the children emotionally, there is always the financial aspect. Considering that some single moms have not been in the workforce for years, this challenge becomes even greater. If you are now a single mom but you have no idea what type of job to look for, I recommend you first consider your skills. Even though you may have been a stay-at-home mom without any skills to offer, the truth is that you … Continue reading →