Pre-K for my Baby K

We took K to his first day of pre-Kindergarten today. It was "kinda hard." His words. My feelings.

With all the books, puzzles, crafts, and a brand-new playground, I don't think the day was all that hard for K. It was a short morning of singing and playing with his best bud S. He got to use "zissors," which Mummy never allows at home.* And, he had us in tow to help with indoor shoes and cubbies.

It was definitely hard for me.

It was hard to not be furious with K's dad when he mentioned, the night before, all the things K needed for school. (More so, since I had had to miss the orientation meeting due to work.) It was hard to get us organized to be clothed, fed and out the door on time, even with Dear A to watch the baby girl. Most of all, it was hard to see my little baby boy at the playground surrounded by older kids on recess. He looked so tiny.

The next class is un-parented. I think it might be "kinda hard" on both of us.

*In my defense, we have stainless-steel-chop-through-a-raw-dead-bird scissors, so its not like I'm being crazy paranoid.

Nanny Upgrade & Poll: What to do about Baby #2

So, I had our 2nd baby 4 months ago....

A baby girl. She's amazing! She's gorgeous, funny, smart and kind of looks like Winston Churchill. Amazing. I spend hours each day amazed. It means so much to me to be home to see her each day. I really missed out, going back to work so soon with K.

Luckily, this time, I've been able to structure it so I only work a few hours a day, from home, around Mini Churchill (MC)'s naps. I'm happy. She's happy. It's working. But its not going to work forever.

I've only got about 7 more months of this pseudo maternity leave leeway. And even now, I do occasionally need to leave her with Dear A so I can take a conference call or meeting. At this point MC isn't difficult. She's cuddly and I'm taking care of diaper and boob milk duty, so its mostly just fun. But, I have started to consider how to eventually transition her full-time into Dear A's care.

Nannies, Playgroups & Preschools Oh My!

K is now 3 and a half. (Suppressing my TIME-IS-FLYING-BY!! panic for now. ) He knows the English alphabet, his numbers to 20, is potty-trained, reasonably polite, and able to communicate his needs. He even has a few friends that he plays with (well, next to, but the playing with is coming along.)

So, does he need to go to preschool? That's what I was wondering all of last month. As all moms do in this day and age, I took to Twitter & Facebook for advice. I realized it must be a hot topic, as I got 14 comments in 1 day.

Most of the parents with kids in daycare or dayhomes said "No." Parents with nannies and parents who were at home with their kids recommended some sort of out of house experience.

Every response fell into one of these categories, which made me realize they probably apply to all parents considering the next step in their childcare plan: