The first dozen daycares I called wouldn’t have an opening until the following school year. Or would cost more than our monthly rent. Or both.
When things get tough, I organize.
For every major life change, there’s a spreadsheet. Moving across the country? Picking a baby name? Updating a 100-year-old house I talked my husband into buying? There’s not a single panic attack Excel can’t help conquer.
When I started my search for a New Orleans daycare for my infant daughter, I was a little anxious. I took out my laptop, opened a blank Excel document, filled it in with contact information, and started calling.
I struck out. Twelve times.
The first dozen daycares I called wouldn’t have an opening until the following school year. Or would cost more than our monthly rent. Or both.
Some of them let me fill out an application anyway, promising they’d call me if anything opened up sooner (they didn’t). Some were more direct and told me to call back in six months (I didn’t).
First of all, school year? My baby hadn’t even learned to flip over yet and she was already on a school schedule, because many daycare facilities in the New Orleans area are associated with schools, or operate like they are. Unlike the daycares in other cities I’ve lived in, it’s not as easy as putting your name on a list and getting an approximate wait time.
The bigger issue? Running on a school schedule means long breaks over holidays, between semesters and over the summer with no child care. Mardi Gras alone usually means a week off. And I get hives thinking about covering eight weeks of summer. Parents have to juggle their full-time daycare provider with short-term care options, which can be especially difficult for children too young for things like summer camp.
I was prepared to deal with this once CC hit kindergarten, but not when she was just entering the infant room.