Childcare Deliberation

This seems to be the angst in every pregnant woman's life as I'm talking with friends and it's no different for Nick & I (well maybe more me than Nick). What are we going to do when the baby has been here for a couple weeks and I eventually have to go back to work?? Some days I think I would love to be a stay at home mom, but then I realize that I would quickly lose interest with that (not in a bad way!) and want to be back at work, doing what I know best. Plus, I have the insurance through my job and I know from Tessa's standpoint that insurance is WAY too expensive on your own.

The difficult part is that Nick's schedule isn't very reliable either and who knows what's to come with that in the near future. I jokingly told him earlier this week, after having brunch w/ some friends & talking about daycare costs, that we could save the money we would spend on child care and he could stay at home full-time with our child AND take up Extreme Couponing to save loads of money on diapers, formula and every day groceries! I think it's a fantastic idea....he, on the other hand, did not. I do know that I don't want him having to travel all of the time after the baby's here. I would miss him terribly and I wouldn't want him to miss out on time with the baby and all of the special moments!

So now it's a matter of deciding what makes the most sense for us - daycare or a nanny. I personally love the idea of having a nanny, who would focus all of their time on our child and help develop Little Mango each and every day. However, I haven't even looked at the cost of hiring a nanny (not one that would live with us full-time, of course) and I don't know the expectations. I also know there are a lot of great daycares in the Omaha area, but I've heard nightmarish stories about the wait lists, the costs and the fact that they are tyrants about parents who are late - and with my schedule it's very hard to leave work by a certain time, plus it could be a little bit that I'm generally late.

Obviously, I haven't answered any questions here and will contiue to talk through what makes sense for Nick & I....hopefully this is something we can nail down for good and get started in the right direction soon.

So as is my nature....I didn't make a decision and now will show you a few of my favorite nannies... :)

"A spoonful of sugar's" Mary Poppins

Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music"

Scarlett Johansen in "The Nanny Diaries"

Last but not least - Erin from "Sex & the City 2"