Who's Going To Watch The Baby?!?!?!

No one tells you about the extra, extra stresses of raising a child. When preparing for a child everyone warns you about the lack of sleep, the never private restroom visits, the adjusted finances, and everything else your standard parenting book covers. No one mentions how stressful just childcare can be.  Date nights are no longer planned on a whim (or guaranteed for that matter. A great date night may be planned only to get a call from the sitter 45 minutes in due to an inconsolable infant) and also come a double the cost (dinner/movie cost PLUS babysitter fees). Also, finding the perfect childcare situation can be daunting (In home or center? Which nanny or center to choose? How much are we willing to pay? Childcare availability/ hours of operation?).  In my case going to work is a constant calculation of how much I'm making versus how much I'm paying the sitter that day (Again, keep your therapy, dentist, doctor, hair, nail, etc. appointments people! No shows and last minutes cancellations are especially sucky for those of us trying to make a living off of billable hours. End rant.)

Our family recently had our first minor (read MAJOR, but I'm trying to downplay because I know it could have been much worse) crisis regarding childcare-- meaning we had none and needed some last minute. O typically stays at home with a babysitter we found through Care.com. We have been so happy with her and are so grateful to have her, but this particular day she was unexpectedly unavailable. Whomp, whomp, whomp. Thankfully my dear friend Sara (visit her here) graciously offered to watch O while I went to work for a half day unexpectedly. Talk about a lifesaver! My husband and I had always discussed what we would do in this type of situation where our regular sitter was unavailable for one reason or another. Ideally, my husband would work from home for a few hours while I went and covered my scheduled appointments, but this particular day last week this plan just was not feasible. What were we going to do?!

To say I had a minor freakout moment is a drastic understatement. I was a ball of nervous energy, my stomach was in knots, and my eyeballs may have been bulging out of my head (think creepy cartoon character size as seen below.) In fact, this actually a pretty close representation of what I looked like as I frantically listed my options.

 

So what were my options? Thankfully, I have a couple of friends who stay at home and knew that they would be happy to help if they were able (i.e. the lovely Sara), but I also knew that they were not a guarantee. My second option was to contact them for sitter referrals. Did they know anyone? Who would they recommend? My third option was to contact daycare centers and Mother's Day Out programs to see if they accommodated drop-ins. For our family, this was only the third option because O had never been exposed to such a large group of children at once without my husband or I in tow. Also, in my quick Google search I found that very few childcare centers around us accepted drop-ins.Yikes! I will note that I did not actually call any of these places and have considered that maybe they will accommodate such situations if contacted more directly, but do not advertise this online as to not invite regular drop-ins.

In my frantic search, I did learn a lot about the childcare programs around us like their hours of operation, programming, and enrollment processes if we chose this care option in the future. My search also exposed me to options parents have when their own children become sick. For our family, my husband and I will always make arrangements for one or the other of us to stay home with our sick guy, but I do realize that some parents do not have that option. Care.com has a list of many sitters who are willing to care for sick children. According to this Babycenter article (yes, my go-to), some hospitals and child-care centers offer sick care as well, but it can be pricey. This page also lists various options for identifying back-up child care and includes ideas I hadn't thought of in my hurried, frantic state like looking into local college programs or contacting a nanny agency for a list of backup care providers.

In closing, I would just like to say that I would be happy to pay Sara's generosity forward to any of my friends who need it! Please don't hesitate to call, and if I'm not working myself I'd be happy to have a playmate for O for the day and help you out as well. Parenting is a tough job and we're all in this together.

"My baby ate ____" and other Google Searches

Hi World! My apologies for my blogging hiatus. It turns out September and early October has become quite the busy time for us--Our entire little family's birthdays all crammed into one month (and one day...if my husband is reading), the beginning of the most pleasant time of the year-FOOTBALL SEASON or Fall as others like to call it, a scare with our poor kitty cat who now seems to be miraculously healed after a thousand dollar vet bill and still no ultimate diagnosis (Ugh!), and a few other fun adventures with family and friends.

Since I last wrote, Baby O has transformed into a Toddler. He's rambunctious and ON. THE. MOVE. His first birthday celebration was fantastic and we were so happy to be able to celebrate his birth with such amazing friends and family. It meant so much to us to see just how many people care so deeply for our little guy!

I believe O was motivated to take off on foot when he realized the other kids at his party were getting around so much quicker than his primary transport of crawling. Prior to the party there was a step here and a step there, but those days are no more. He even prefers to walk on his own over cruising in his stroller which leads to a much slower shopping pace for mom and dad. On the contrary, at home he is a movin' and a shakin' around the house which keeps me on my toes at all times.

In my experience a walking toddler is MUCH more challenging than a crawling toddler just because they really do get around faster on their own. This brings me to my point-Google searches. In the last few weeks I have had more Google searches open for things that I never even considered that anyone would ever have to type! Seriously. Yesterday I typed in "My baby ate a mot." Yes, in my frantic state after O ate a moth I misspelled "moth" but oddly felt a little relieved when Google courteously asked, "Did you mean "My baby ate a moth?" Yes! Yes, I did! Other parents had Googled this before me; therefore I was not alone with my child who may or may not be exhibiting early signs of Pica or honing his skills to prepare for a life modeled after Bear Grylls. I did also find some relief that he did not eat poop or a roach which were also suggestions as I was beginning my search. In the past week, he's also attempted to eat a fly (He caught that thing mid-flight! I like to think of it as a sign of advanced fine motor skills :)), rocks, dirt, and grass. Face palm.

After I concluded from my search that a moth was really no harm to my child aside from the disturbing residue of "fairy dust" that lined his lips (this was my tip-off something was awry), I began to wonder what other interesting searches Google received on a daily basis. In my search I found this article by the Huffington Post. What?

In just the short time since my husband and I have been graced by our little guy, I cannot believe how many searches I've done on constipation, breastfeeding (i.e. "When will my nipples stop hurting?"), signs of concussion (I may be a hypochondriac, but I will note that this search is opened more frequently now that O is often so preoccupied with getting to his destination he often runs into things-Less so now than when he was crawling, but still a daily issue), and of course, my already mentioned "My baby ate___." Thankfully, I have yet to be the first to search any of these items. There is some relief in knowing that others can relate. Misery really does love company, or at least in the case of this mom. What things have you searched that you found to be a surprising need?