(ABOVE: Jaden with 2 daycare friends - her BEST friend Hannah and Ethan in the middle!)
Below will be new weekly scheduled "PITY POST" at Welcome to Our Adventure ... Sit Back and Enjoy - or join the pity party with me ...
"PITY POST" Episode #1 to commence in ...
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Now for your regularly scheduled episode of "PITY POST"!
Now - being serious, what I am about to post is nowhere nearly as horrible as my overly dramatic mind is making it out to be but at least for now I can make light of my frustration right? This really is not a big deal; after all, my daughter is healthy, my marriage is happy and intact, I still have a job, so does Jason and there is nothing catastrophic happening in my immediate family ... but I am known to be 'slightly' sarcastic and dramatic so why not keep that image going ...
Those of you who have read my blabbing nonsense know that I have one child - Jaden turned 6 years old in March. She is a Kindergartner at Jeffer's Pond. We do not live 'near' any family on either side - Jason's family is 90 miles away, my family is 1200 miles away. So when it comes to childcare for our family we chose to enroll Jaden into a learning center. She was actually enrolled her into daycare when I was only 3 months pregnant. It is pretty cut throat here - you find a daycare, if you like it enroll of else you sneeze and the open spot vanishes! So fast forward - Jaden was born - I was able to work out of the house for 2 days a week so she only needed to be in daycare for 3 days. The price was easy to swallow at $180/week back in 2002. Wasn't really a big deal at all. Fast forward again a few months - Jaden is 6 months old, I have a new job, we moved to a different city and daycare was 15 miles out of the way. So we had Jaden transferred to the same daycare 'chain' closer to the house where she started attending full time at $250/week. That was a bit tougher to swallow but with my new job came a higher pay so it was 'doable'. Jaden remained at this daycare 'chain' for 4 years and enjoyed every minute of it. She made friends there that to this day remain her friends. I also made friends there - Jolene being my best friend 6 years later ... so it was a wonderful place to have my daughter taken care of ... Jaden learned so much - she tested advanced for kindergarten mainly because of the excellent teaching staff there. Fast forward to September 2006 and I had a pretty big issue with rate hikes, policy changes but most of all a new Daycare Manager who I had serious issues with professionally and personally. So after a LOT of thought and discussion Jason and I decided to change daycare. Jaden started a new daycare center surprisingly with quite a few kids from her other daycare. She was happy there and enjoyed the teachers and the new environment. The bill was less - which was nice - we paid $204/week for full time daycare. It was great! Well this past fall Jaden became a 'School Ager' in her daycare. Now that she was in kindergarten she only needed daycare before and after school. This worked out well and the price dropped once again to $85/week. Pretty much 'change' compared to what we used to pay. We were still paying $300/month for Jaden to attend full day kindergarten in MN (the state doesn't cover the additional costs - we do). Things were going along fine. We were anticipating once school was over this June that rates would go up to $120 (like last years rates for School Agers). Of course Jaden would now be full time, needing an additional meal (lunch) and going on summer field trips. What I DID NOT expect was what was handed to me yesterday when I picked Jaden up from daycare. I was give an envelope with a cute little sticker on it - was told it was the summer calendar and permission slips. They never mentioned a rate change chart. Now remember - we were expecting a rate change of $35/week. We were NOT expecting a rate change of $100/week or $400/month! I was shocked and my jaw hit the floor. When i talked to the owner I asked why - her response "Gas Prices, Food Prices and the Economy!" WHAT!? Yeah, I get that the economy is struggling and things aren't as rosy as they have been but when you add up $400/month by the 30 kids enrolled ... well you do the math - that is a HECK of a lot of money for gas and a peanut butter sandwich! I still - the next day - haven't gotten an adequate answer from them for the rate change - only the school age room rates went up that much - the other rooms went up $10 on average per week. Jason and I spent the night talking - and today! Sure, we can afford the $400 more a month but it is the principal of the situation that bothers me ... not to mention Jaden doesn't like being there with the older kids ... she rarely talks about having fun there and if you ask her she'd rather go somewhere else ... so my PITY PARTY ends ... tomorrow we have an 'interview' with a local In-Home daycare provider ... she lives close enough to Jaden's school to bus her in the fall and when you add it all up - we would save $2600/year ... that is a family vacation you know! We sat down with Jaden and her eyes lit up with the thought of being able to help take care of littler kids (she loves babies and toddlers) ... not to mention the teacher is a 'mom' and there is a much smaller group of kids to take care of ... well I am sorry for blabbing so much about money and this silly issue compared to other more serious things that could happen ... things could always be worse right? Actually - if any of you have a positive In-Home Daycare experience let me know ... this will be my first time trying an In-Home Daycare ... Hope all is well!
NOW Resuming Normal Blog Readership in ...
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Love ~ The Clark Family ~ Rebekah, Jason and Jaden TOO!
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