Tuesday, March 7, 2017
A relaxing day today. We needed a recovery day after our adventures yesterday. The babies each came home with a small panda bear from the Smithsonian. So far they have been a big hit and Bear enjoys putting his little panda in the bus and pushing him around the house. They played REALLY well together today with very limited hair pulling, tackling, pushing, and shoving. It was lovely!
People:My mom came over and watched the twins for me so I could get out and run some errands.
Places/Activities: Today I spent time setting up my online course. I'll begin teaching again next week (online only) and I'm really looking forward to it! It's very little pay for a lot of work, but I enjoy it. Especially when you can see the impact you are having on your students.
Good Deeds: None to note today.
Chores: Bank, laundry, and bills. Plus I had some materials to return to the library before I got slapped with another overdue fee and a reserve to pick up.
Reading: I write these blog posts on the day after everything happens (usually) so as of yesterday (Tuesday) I didn't finish any books. However, the insomnia bug bit me again last night (thanks, wind for waking me up) so I got up, came downstairs, and finished my book, Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique. It's an uncomfortable read and I didn't really feel satisfied at all with the ending. Very sad, heartbreaking, and as a parent I wanted to scream. It was well written, but I only recommend with caution.
Recipes: I seriously feel like we are in a rut here. Tonight we had leftover steak soup that I made this weekend and it turned more into a stroganoff when reheated. It was delicious both ways. I keep finding myself scanning recipe websites over the course of the day when I have a free minute, but I haven't really found anything that says, "Oooo! I can make that!" or "Yes! That looks good! My kids will eat that!"
Random Thoughts: Looking for childcare... making the "right" choice. The childcare that we've had lined up for the twins for the last year left me a text message last month to let me know she no longer had space for the twins. So... we are back to square one. We really wanted them to go to an in home daycare for the next year or two before going to preschool (especially since their birthdays are so late that they will be almost 6 before beginning kindergarten). So, tonight I went and looked at another daycare. A number of times the topic of daycare appears in my facebook feed, so here are a few things that we think about when looking for daycare. We are especially cautious after having a not so fabulous experience with hiring a nanny last year. But here's the list....
1. Is my kid(s) going to be safe here? This is obviously the number one question. In fact, everything else doesn't even matter if you can't answer this question with a "yes." Things that I question are if there are any pets, if the pets have contact with the children, where the children sleep (a few weeks ago I visited a daycare where some kids slept in a walk-in closet and the house reeked of cat urine. For real.) I also look at the vicinity of the kitchen to the play area - so I know an eye can be kept out for my little ones while meals are being prepped.
2. Will my kid(s) be happy here? I look for body language from the daycare provider. Is she smiling? Does she genuinely seem to like kids? The daycare I visited last night was covered in recent artwork all over the walls. I love that the kids get circletime every day and that they do crafts that aren't print-outs or worksheets. A yard with time for kids to get outside everyday is also a must. While I don't take my kids out in our yard everyday, we typically get outside everyday to go somewhere.
3. If you answer questions 1 and 2 with a "yes" then the next thing you need to wonder about is whether the person has any judgements against them. So, go ahead and do a judiciary case search for the person AND business name just to make sure you aren't sending your kid(s) to spend everyday with a convicted criminal. You'd be surprised what you can find out about a person on the judiciary case search....
And that's pretty much the big 3 for us. Safety, happiness, and criminal free (which technically goes under safety). And then after those features, it's just a matter of actually finding a place that has an opening for not one, but TWO kids. At the same time. Which makes the search even more of a challenge...
A relaxing day today. We needed a recovery day after our adventures yesterday. The babies each came home with a small panda bear from the Smithsonian. So far they have been a big hit and Bear enjoys putting his little panda in the bus and pushing him around the house. They played REALLY well together today with very limited hair pulling, tackling, pushing, and shoving. It was lovely!
People:My mom came over and watched the twins for me so I could get out and run some errands.
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| All boy. Bear enjoys carrying and pushing the bus all over the house. |
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| Puff is growing up so fast! |
Good Deeds: None to note today.
Chores: Bank, laundry, and bills. Plus I had some materials to return to the library before I got slapped with another overdue fee and a reserve to pick up.
Reading: I write these blog posts on the day after everything happens (usually) so as of yesterday (Tuesday) I didn't finish any books. However, the insomnia bug bit me again last night (thanks, wind for waking me up) so I got up, came downstairs, and finished my book, Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique. It's an uncomfortable read and I didn't really feel satisfied at all with the ending. Very sad, heartbreaking, and as a parent I wanted to scream. It was well written, but I only recommend with caution.
Recipes: I seriously feel like we are in a rut here. Tonight we had leftover steak soup that I made this weekend and it turned more into a stroganoff when reheated. It was delicious both ways. I keep finding myself scanning recipe websites over the course of the day when I have a free minute, but I haven't really found anything that says, "Oooo! I can make that!" or "Yes! That looks good! My kids will eat that!"
Random Thoughts: Looking for childcare... making the "right" choice. The childcare that we've had lined up for the twins for the last year left me a text message last month to let me know she no longer had space for the twins. So... we are back to square one. We really wanted them to go to an in home daycare for the next year or two before going to preschool (especially since their birthdays are so late that they will be almost 6 before beginning kindergarten). So, tonight I went and looked at another daycare. A number of times the topic of daycare appears in my facebook feed, so here are a few things that we think about when looking for daycare. We are especially cautious after having a not so fabulous experience with hiring a nanny last year. But here's the list....
1. Is my kid(s) going to be safe here? This is obviously the number one question. In fact, everything else doesn't even matter if you can't answer this question with a "yes." Things that I question are if there are any pets, if the pets have contact with the children, where the children sleep (a few weeks ago I visited a daycare where some kids slept in a walk-in closet and the house reeked of cat urine. For real.) I also look at the vicinity of the kitchen to the play area - so I know an eye can be kept out for my little ones while meals are being prepped.
2. Will my kid(s) be happy here? I look for body language from the daycare provider. Is she smiling? Does she genuinely seem to like kids? The daycare I visited last night was covered in recent artwork all over the walls. I love that the kids get circletime every day and that they do crafts that aren't print-outs or worksheets. A yard with time for kids to get outside everyday is also a must. While I don't take my kids out in our yard everyday, we typically get outside everyday to go somewhere.
3. If you answer questions 1 and 2 with a "yes" then the next thing you need to wonder about is whether the person has any judgements against them. So, go ahead and do a judiciary case search for the person AND business name just to make sure you aren't sending your kid(s) to spend everyday with a convicted criminal. You'd be surprised what you can find out about a person on the judiciary case search....
And that's pretty much the big 3 for us. Safety, happiness, and criminal free (which technically goes under safety). And then after those features, it's just a matter of actually finding a place that has an opening for not one, but TWO kids. At the same time. Which makes the search even more of a challenge...
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