mommy's are entitled to a little bragging... right?

Lets start out with a little background on our daycare. When Ellie was first born and I had to go back to work 11 weeks later I about had a heart attack. I couldn't fathom the idea of my little bitty baby being at a daycare with a bunch of 1-? year olds who were rowdy and rambunctious. I was afraid of her getting hurt, not getting enough attention, etc, etc. Because after all, who better to care for her than me? After many days of sobbing and near anxiety attacks when I thought about going back to work Greg and I came up with an idea. We planned to ask my cousins wife, who was a stay at home mom with one little boy and a school aged daughter to watch Ellie. I thanked God when she said yes. I loved LeAnn. She was the next best thing to me. She cared for and loved Ellie just as I did. Towards the end of 2006 LeAnn found out she was pregnant. Jacob was born in August and it was determined that he had had a stroke in LeAnn's belly and had also acquired a disease called CMV. One day LeAnn let me know that she would no longer be able to watch Ellie as Jacob was going to be a full time job. I was so sad, but knew that it was for the best for Jacob. She gave me as much time as I needed to find a new daycare. So my search began.

Our local social service agency provides a list of all the daycares in our county. I got that list and started making calls. I had gotten suggestions from friends and family... but nothing was panning out. Ellie was below the age of 2 and daycares are limited hugely to how many kids under 2 they can have. I got no after no after no. I even was told by one lady, rather rudely, that she would only take a full time kid (we only needed daycare about 10-12 days a month) so rather than take Ellie this bitchy lady didn't get any business. Serves her right. Anywho... I had heard about (for privacy I'll call it B's daycare) B's daycare (and preschool) before. A few people I knew took their kids there. I'd also grown up with her kids (well sorta, one was in my grade and I knew him). I just happened to pick up the phone that day and she answered and said, "it's your lucky day, I'll have one opening on November 2nd". I was SO, SO happy!

So that started our venture with B's daycare. I had spoken with the woman who licenses daycares in our county and asked her some questions and for some evaluations of B's daycare. She had excellent reviews from other parents and even went as far to tell me that B does not need to do daycare she does it because she loves it (apparently her hubby makes plenty of $). She also told me that when a new must-have toy comes out, B will go to Target/Walmart and rather than have the kids fight over 1, she'll buy 4. So, I was sold. Not that any of this made me any happier to be leaving my kid at daycare 8.5 hours 2-3 days a week (Greg is home with her the other weekdays while I'm at work). But it gave me an inkling of comfort.

B's daycare was a separate addition onto her 3-4000 square foot home. It is beautiful. She usually has 3 staff there with her every day. She also purchased another home and runs another daycare there. She employs more staff at that site. She also has a preschool teacher on staff.

Over the last year I've slowly, very slowly started to realize that Ellie (and I) are ok with daycare. My SAHM wishes are going away and it is ok with me. I feel great about the position we are in financially (finally!) and I love Ellie's daycare. And most importantly Ellie loves her daycare. She plays with other kids, learns, does crafts and just enjoys her day. I have actually come to the conclusion (and remember this is my opinion and I'm NOT JUDGING YOU or YOUR CHOICES) that Ellie has grown so much more in the daycare setting than she ever would have with me. They just have so many more resources than little 'ole me.

Whew, that was a long history... now here's what I have to brag about. I went to pick up Ellie today and asked A about the preschool curriculum. I've started to check into preschool for next fall since Ellie turns 3 in May. So as I'm talking with A she says, "you know, I think Ellie is ready to start now, she is very smart, when we lay the kids on the changing table to change their diapers we always sing the abc's or count to 10 and Ellie can do both those things. I will check tomorrow, but I think we could start her early." Yes, yes, I am a proud mama. So proud. :) I want her to learn, learn, learn and be smart, smart, smart and go places during her life. So, Ellie might start preschool next week! Wow.

I was second guessing this and thinking, awww... it's to early... I want her to play and have fun and be a kid... there is enough time for school. But after talking with A I realized that they don't sit at a desk all day long and learn. This is preschool for goodness sakes, they make it fun.