Half way through.
Today I am officially half way through my maternity leave. Which means that in 5 Short months (too short of they’re anything like the last 5!), the morning duvet snuggles, the coffee shop tours, the riverside walks and afternoon’s in front of the telly all come to an end… I have to go back to work! Noooooooo…
Which means thinking about the big C! Childcare.
We’ve met childminders, seen nurseries and trawled the childcare sites to find someone worthy of spending 2 full days a week with my gorgeous boy! (As if anyone is worthy!! ğŸ˜). Half of me is in denial that we will ever leave him with anyone else, the other half is desperate to find someone quick before all the good options go! Incidentally, we are apparently awful working parents for not putting our fetus down on the waiting list for nursery pre conception like the rest of bloody Surrey! And everyone we have met is either completely bloody bananas or available for half a day every other week. (I jest, but still inconvenient).
I’m aware I’m not the first woman in the world to go back to work! And we are very lucky that Papa Oatcake and my mum are around to do some of the childcare.. but how do you do it? Trust a stranger to look after your most precious belonging? I struggle to let a stranger cut my hair for gods sake!
We met one woman who couldn’t stop talking, chatting at the speed of light about ‘robot day’ and ‘ill day’ and also mentioning how she was very strict and didn’t want to take on any more children… but Oatcake would be ok because he was cute (creepy much?).
Another one, who had a mental dog who kept knocking over the children.. apparently they liked it..
Another one who was more interested in Papa Oatcake’s job, and the prospect of free theatre tickets than anything to do with our actual child..
And one nursery I visited had a load of half dressed babies lolling around on the floor screaming like extras in some sort of cult horror movie.
We met a few that looked alright.. but what if they were just great at covering up the cracks!!
Not going back to work is so tempting but so not an option! Help!
Oatcake Adventures 
Ha you’ve just made my fear and nightmare of nurseries a reality!! The image of babies just being left on the floor (or generally just being left) was one of the main reasons I couldn’t even entertain the thought of leaving my baby in a nursery (though deep down I do know they are not all like that!) We’ve gone with a seemingly lovely childminder so fingers crossed! I did reject one who would have charged us £2 per minute of lateness 🙀 and another who, despite me telling her I want term-time only and won’t pay for holidays, wanted to charge me for holidays. Grrrrrr, bloody read my emails properly!!
LikeLike
We got really lucky with our nursery which was the first one I saw and I loved it and didn’t feel the need to see any more! I went round to look with my little boy and the baby room leader took him to play and show him the room while I chatted to the manager. They seemed more interested in him than me which i took as a good sign 🙂 it’s heartbreaking leaving your child but both mine now love their nursery, talk about their teachers and it’s just been a really positive experience for us all. Good luck I’m sure you will find somewhere! X
LikeLike