Mama Thursday: Week 46 - Steps

I was informed by our daycare lady yesterday that Lily had taken a couple of steps.  Of course I'm upset that work makes me miss these special moments, but I'm so proud of her!  The theory is that she saw all the other kids walking around and wanted in on that action.  We couldn't get her to do it at home but our living room is so small it's too easy for her to cruise around the furniture rather than walk.

At what point does a child go from "infant" to "toddler"?  Is it when they start walking?  That would make sense to me, but who knows.

So Lily's in daycare now.  Unfortunate circumstances caused Husband's mom to not be able to watch her anymore.  And thus we embarked on round two of finding a daycare provider.  Let me just tell you how NOT awesome this is.  Thankfully my work provides a third-party service that does the initial legwork for you.  I told them the radius, budget, and style I needed and they gave me a list.

The stress of this process is almost too much to take.  We're talking about a stranger to whom you have to entrust the care of your child for the majority of her day.  This person needs to share your values, your parenting style, and has to be reasonably sane.  I mean, let's be honest, people who choose to be surrounded by a ton of kids all day are at least a little bit not quite right in the head to begin with. 

As an aside, I've noticed that all the daycare ladies I spoke to have the same strange get-right-to-the-point no-nonsense thing going on over the phone.  It's extremely hard to read them until you actually meet them.

The first lady we visited was super nice and had a nice home.  She was in the process of adopting her foster kid.  Wonderful lady.  But when we walked in the first thing we saw was a three foot tall crucifix on her wall.  Um, yikes.  We gave her the benefit of the doubt and went ahead with the interview anyway.  After all, the reference sheet said her daycare had no religious affiliation.  As we toured her home I noticed god-themed posters on the wall, a stack of Bibles, and more crosses.  Umm, no.

The second one we visited had a smaller house, but I immediately clicked with her and her husband, who helps out.  I worked up the courage to flat-out ask them if they kept things secular, and they did.  It's a tough question to ask and everyone was a little uncomfortable and almost defensive, but in the end we sort of laughed it off.  We ultimately decided to go with them.  Plus, they have the most adorable teacup chihuahua and two cats.  And a wiener dog that visits occasionally.  These are important things.