Daycare Dilemma

Being a working mother is so hard....as all of you reading this already know! Last week I found out (not from our daycare provider mind you but because her mother-in-law accidentally let it slip!!) that our babysitter was quitting and starting her own business. It wasn't until yesterday that Christy (the babysitter) told us that she is quitting. So I've been fretting (and crying!) over this for a whole week now wondering what I am going to do. Oh, and she's given me a whopping 2 weeks notice which with the Thanksgiving holiday is really just one week. So what am I supposed to do? I've called my R.S. President to see if she knows of anyone doing daycare in their home but she wasn't able to give me many leads. My sister Janeen gave me three promising leads but I have only been able to get ahold of one of them (the other two never answer their phones). Christy did provide me with a list of daycare providers in the WJ area but that doesn't really help me since I need someone in Diamond Summit neighborhood so that Tyler can continue to attend preschool. The three ladies I have talked to who actually have openings and live within the area that I need can't take my kids because Trevor is considered an infant until he turns two (March) because the state regulations won't allow more than 2 kids under the age of 2 per provider. So basically I'm screwed! Brad and I both have parents who work so they are not options, our sisters either work and/or live too far away to tend. I feel like these are my options:

• Quit my job (which I happen to love and is my dream job) and stay home with the boys until we lose our house and have to live in a cardboard box under the overgrown trees along the Jordan River parkway.
• Quit my job and work a different job at night (post office doing data entry anyone? proof operator again?) so that I can be home during the day with the kids and Brad can be home at night with the kids thus eliminating the need for childcare but also eliminating the time that Brad and I actually get to see each other.
• Take Tyler out of preschool and just choose whichever daycare provider I can find who I feel comfortable with, is reasonably priced and available. This isn't fair to Tyler who has developed friendships at school.
• Find people to tend the kids until March at which time I can get on with a regular sitter.
• Pray hard that something in my life goes well for once and I find the right situation. Nothing has been going my way lately but we won't even go there or we'll have to re-name this blog "Jamie's Crapshoot of a Life".

I had a lot of complaints about Christy, she never really communicated with me, never put a bib on my kids or sunscreen like I asked, and they got a dog without even telling me when they knew that Tyler was terrified of animals. But her house was spotless, my kids were happy and well taken care of and their days were structured and not full of TV. So overall it was a fine situation and not overly pricey. I feel so betrayed, devastated, heart-broken and guilty. I know I should be home with my kids, I should be the one raising them, and I want to be with. I've just cried my eyes out for the past week and truly do not know what we are going to do.

Thanks for letting me vent.