Fish or cut bait

Actually, I prefer "Shit or get off the pot" but it seemed weird to make that a title. Anyway...

The daycare issue has come to a head this week, and seeing as how there didn't seem to be any awesome magical daycares springing up in our neighborhood we decided to bite the bullet and go with the one that was further away than we liked. C and I decided yesterday to do it, and he called the corporate office to make sure that we could do this with almost no notice. Usually centers require two weeks notice, paid, if you plan on leaving but we didn't want to essentially fire the director and then keep taking E there for two weeks. Today I took E to meet his class, see the school, and pick up the paperwork.

I've had a couple moments when I wondered if I was over-reacting, or if this was more my issue than a concern for E. I waffled last night, and then after talking to C realized that even if E liked the school okay, if I couldn't stand the woman in charge it wasn't the right place for us. I waivered again when I picked him up because one of his teachers made a point of telling me that E and his "best friend" had gotten in a fight that morning. Then she said she had a 4 year old, but that he went to a different school. Not the most glowing recommendation.

So the new school. The director met us and took us to E's new room. Where the walls are covered in kids' artwork and the toys are clean and organized. When I asked if they ever showed movies she said, and I quote, "We have a no-TV policy. There are no TVs in the building. I feel like, 30 minutes is fine at home or when you're making dinner, but we're paid to be creative and we need to find other ways to entertain the kids." I asked about homework. She responded with, "I know there's a focus on getting ready for kindergarten, but I really feel like they're only 3 once. And I think that they can learn just as much, if not more, by painting and playing and imagining and experimenting than they can by doing worksheets. Of course, if a child wants homework I'm sure we could find something to send home." Do you hear that? It sounds like angels singing from daycare heaven. There were only a few kids from Eli's future class there, but within fifteen minutes they were playing with Eli and working together to get into some mischief. When one of the kids fell down, the others ran over to help him up. There was no screaming, no kicking, no icky chaos. On top of all that, I finally figured out a way to get to this place in under 30 minutes.

Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty good about our decision. The new daycare is a much better fit for us and I feel like Eli's going to thrive there. So so happy. C's giving the old daycare notice tomorrow, and next Monday we'll start at the new school.