The Great Childcare Debate

So on top of all the decisions I have made in the past year (just to recap, for those not informed, my husband lost his job, got a new job an hour and a half away in Plymouth, began commuting, we tried to sell our house for 6 months, I transferred to Brighton, an hour away, had a change of heart, took a leap of faith with a temp job which turned into a permanent job and a complete career change in Lansing, we had to put our wonderful golden retriever, Autumn, to sleep, we decided to try for another child and poof! I was a pregnant a minute later, my husband's Plant closed (again!) and he was transferred to Lansing, we decided to move, then decided it was too much work this late in my pregnancy, and then decided instead to rearrange our house and fix it up instead, and then a position opened up at work that I wanted more, but I decided to give myself a break already and stick with the job I have and yes, this has all happened in the span of 12 months) you would think that the decision to change childcare would not be the most difficult.

Yet, it brings me to tears, the thought of making Drew go to another childcare. I LOVE my childcare center. They treat Drew like a little prince, and everyone knows his name. Of course it does help that my sister is their boss, but still, I think they are really attached to him, and he to them. I don't want to pull him away from his (and truth be told, our) comfort zone. The thing about this childcare is that there is a reason I love it so much- it is much more expensive than the other childcare's in the area, and with one more enrolled, I'll probably only take home enough money to cover the gas to get to work. Don't get me wrong, the other childcare centers that I visited were lovely, but they were not home. Drew spends more time awake at childcare than at home, I definitely want to make the right decision for us. So I made what some would consider a silly decision.... I accepted my Mom's help to cover the discrepancies between the two. Some might say this is a cop out- I would agree. It was not my idea, I never asked for it and she offered. I figure, at least to make myself feel better, If she babysat for my children, as so many moms I know have that option, it would be much more of a burden for them. I've also learned in the 2 1/2 years of having Drew, it is OK to accept help and handouts. So that's my decision, and I'm sticking to it. I think that is the last one I will have to make for a least, I don't know, a week or two??