But yes, after much searching and comparing of daycare facilities around us, we ended up going with The Goddard School. I worked in a daycare when I was in high school and then worked for the YMCA childcare program in college. I am extremely picky with where we leave our child because of this. I also know that if you don't have a good set of people who genuinely like kids and want to be around them, it will make for a bad environment for my kids. So the staff is really what made our decision (along with safety and cleanliness!). We were considering two different Goddard schools and our church daycare. The church program was nice, however they were not flexible at all on letting Paul go see the room. They only let visitors come at 10:00 and that just wouldn't work with Paul's work schedule. We had a hard time choosing between the two locations of Goddard. One location that was closer to our home was ranked a 3 by the state (4 is the highest) but had awesome administration who we really liked and they seemed like they really wanted to be there and loved kids. They were also brand new and cheaper. However... the two teachers were good, but not great and what we had in mind for Sam. The place we ended up choosing is ranked a 4 by the state, had great 2.5 and 3 year old teachers and that made all the difference to us. While the administration there is still great, what really sold is the teachers. Plus, this place is closer to Paul's job and since he has to drop Ally off at Mary's and then take Sam to preschool it's a good thing. This place was also 75 more expensive then the other school would have been. Oh well... For piece of mind that my child is safe every day I will pay it. But, it's just funny that Paul and I both get raises and all that money will go to daycare now! It's 504 a month (and that's only for two days a week!) plus another 25 if we want them to feed him breakfast. How do we say no to Breakfast? What is he going to do, get there at 7 and watch all the other kids eat?? We can't do that to him. Oh well... Yes it is crazy expensive, however, they really were understanding to the fact that we called two times today to check up on him and they sent us a photo of him from his first day! Here he is :)
He really did so much better then I could have hoped. He was really upset when Paul called me after leaving his mom's house. He didn't understand why Ally was at Grandma's playing and he didn't get to stay. Paul said he cried almost the whole way to school. Once he got there the other kids were eating breakfast so Sam went and sat down and ate too and Paul gave him a kiss and left. He wasn't too upset. When I called around 9:30 the teacher said that he had his "emotional moments" that morning but was really doing pretty well considering it was his first day. They also said that he was mesmerized by the trash can that he could step on to throw his trash away. Paul called at 12:30 before nap to see if we needed to come get him early and they said he was doing fine. They said that he enjoyed building towers with blocks and playing with cars.
Paul and I were fighting over who got to pick him up so we met at home at 4:15 (Paul left work at 3:45 and I left right at 3:30) so we could go together. When we were there we could peak in on him through the window and he was sitting with two other little girls who were reading books. The lady working (I have to remember their names!) said that overall he did well. In the morning he had a couple of "where's mommy and where's daddy" moments but he could be distracted to get his mind off of things. She said he asked to sit on the big boy potty but as soon as she put him on there he jumped off. But hey, it's such a great sign that they are willing to do that for when I do finally get around to potty training him! He didn't start crying as soon as he saw us. He just calmly got up with his little face excited and gave us hugs. Then showed us the blocks. We did get to find out that he didn't nap at all but sat quietly on his bed and read books. Also, on the note they sent home he didn't eat his main portion of lunch or the vegetables but ate all his pears. They give the kids actual cups to drink from and he didn't know how to do it so at lunch one of the teachers seemed really sweet and helped him figure it out.
As much as I hate the thought of him being in daycare, I really think he'll be okay there. They do lots of fun activities and it's only for two days a week. Even if I was a stay at home mom we'd still at least be looking into part time care for him because he really does need to get the chance to play with other kids!
