a different kind of labor

Of all the things that a parent goes through.... pregnancy, labor, sleepless nights, tantrums and more, I had no idea that finding good child care would be such a drain on my energy.

First, I should mention that our family is super fortunate and blessed to have one of Addison's grandmothers, my mother-in-law, Cheryle, living close by and always willing to help out whenever she can. She was his sole care provider for the first two years of his life while I worked part time, and she continues to be available for afternoon pick-ups, sick days and the occasional scheduling snafu. This has been an amazing gift to our family in many many ways, and I have tried to always recognize how lucky we are and show appreciation, but I'm sure I still manage to take it for granted on some level.

After 6+ months of researching daycare facilities and other child care options, we finally found a school for Addison that we felt comfortable with, we could afford, and was fairly close by. He's been here for over a year, and we have been really happy with it. I was so happy we waited for the right place to come into our lives before we finally enrolled him.

Now, a little over a year later, we find ourselves in child care transition again, and the process has been difficult. Researching, open houses, tours, more research, dead-ends, filling out forms, long waitlists, exorbitant fees, turn-offs, let downs, waiting with baited breath, miscommunications, and on and on and on.... I keep thinking to myself, Why does this have to be SO hard?

I don't have answers. I wish I did. My heart goes out to all the other mothers out ther who are having similar experiences... I guarantee I'm not alone in this.

I'm just still waiting and hoping and praying that the school we've got our sight on now comes through for us so we don't have to start this exhaustive process all over again from square one.

Wish us luck.