Monroe and Cruz in April. I returned to work at 25% time when Monroe was about 4 months old. We hired a bright, energetic UCLA student with an interest in infant development to babysit while I was right here in the house for about 8 hours per week. I upped myself to 50% time in March and then went full time in July. We loved having our fantastic babysitter Cruz for this precious first year of Monroe's life, but now that I need 35 to 40 hours of care per week, I can't really afford private babysitting. Besides, we were beginning to feel that Monroe was ready for a more social scene.
Choosing a daycare in Los Angeles is a nightmare. Early in my search, I remember learning that for every one child under 2 years of age in daycare on the west side of LA, there are 20 on a waiting list. UCLA runs three child care programs and they are all so coveted that people sign fetuses up for the preschool, figuring that it will take 2-3 years to get to the top of the list.
In my case, an exhaustive (and exhausting) search that took up 1/2 my summer revealed exactly two choices for a baby of Monroe's age. Let's call them "L'école de Prétension" and "Snot-Nose Playground." As the pseudonyms imply, I was faced with an un-enviable choice. "L'école de Prétension" (which really does put their name in french for no discernible reason, like drugstore makeup that's trying a little too hard to seem chic) is a school with credentials out the wazoo, a great staff-to-baby ratio, a beautiful campus, tons of enrichment, and a general atmosphere of privilege and exclusion that made me want to vomit. On the other hand, "Snot-Nose Playground" was operated in a private home by a sweet grandmotherly lady who's looked after kids for 25 years. She'd cared for our good friend Annie's two lovely children--that's how we learned about the place. I call it "snot nose" because, while the did not actually let the kids' noses get snotty, they were certainly not following the children around sterilizing everything they touched. This is a plus in my book, but I recognize that the same relaxed standards that appealed to me might horrify a different mom. The atmosphere was un-fussy in a warm and home-like way and the kids seemed to be having a blast. But there were downsides. There was one fewer employee than I would have liked to see for the number of kiddos around, and they didn't really have a lot of books or art stuff because there are babies of all different ages so they can't sustain really organized activity. Still, even with those downsides, the choice was sort of a non-choice. We had to go for the home-y, relaxed, "let the kids play" kind of place. We will take snotty over snooty any day of the week!!
Monroe rockin' out at Snot-Nose Playground.Last week I took Monroe to play at the daycare every afternoon so that the place felt familiar and was associated with fun. By the end of the week she started getting hyper just seeing the driveway of the place, so I know that plan worked. Then I left her for three hours on Friday morning to get her used to being left and to give her a taste of the morning routine that takes place inside the house.
Today was the big plunge! When we plunked Monroe on the big cushy bench inside the house between two other toddlers, she turned to the baby on her right and waved sociably, as if to say, "Hello, my name is Monroe. I'll be your playmate this morning." It was SO cute.
Parviz (the owner of the daycare) said she did great, although her nap was a little short. We were just thrilled she'd gone to sleep at all given that she's not a gifted napper and she was in a strange environment. Monroe seemed like her regular delightful self this evening, so day one was a success!
Look at all of that beautiful hair!
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