Who Is Going To Watch My Kid?

You all may remember that back in December/January we were on a full-on nanny search.  After interviews and meetings with plenty, we finally found 'the one' (here).

We have been absolutely spoiled with nanny J. I feel it was meant to be when she contacted us through our care.com profile page and I know I loved her bubbly personality from the moment we met her.

What we loved most about her interview:

• Previous nanny experience, both in Omaha and in her home state of Arkansas.
• Friendly, easy to talk to, great personality. 
• Twenty years old (so none of the bar scene nonsense to cloud her pretty little head). 
• Prior day care experience. 
• Seemed to have her head on her shouldlers at the ripe young age of 20. 
• Going to school for early childhood education. Mmm, hello? Can you say perfect?

What we have loved about our experience with her:

• Convenience. I can't tell you how nice it's been being able to let Little Man sleep in most mornings, while I'm out the door for work. 
• Time saver. No need for me to have to wake up extra early knowing I have to feed, change and get Cruz ready for the day and drag him out into the cold or heat.
• One-on-one time. We haven't had to worry about our guy getting looked over in a room full of other kids. J has had time to really work with him on everything from walking, to talking, to colors, numbers, spelling/saying his name and most recently potty training. It's usually us who have to make sure we work with him on what she has taught him, so he doesn't forget. 
• And we haven't had to sacrifice interaction with other kids. J meets up with other nannies all over town and Cruz loves playing with other kiddos, so we have the social aspect as well.
• Well-rounded. He has been to more places in this city than I have. They go to baby gym, parks, swimming pools, museums (lord knows he wouldn't be getting this from us!), toddler times, libraries, you name it. I oftentimes find myself extremely jealous of my son's extra curricular activities...
• Flexibility. She has been more than willing to change up the days of the week she works depending on my schedule and staying late if something comes up at work. Plus, she has babysat for us on random weekend nights when needed. 

But...she's leaving us.

I know I make it sound a bit dramatic, but the truth is I am dramatic. I don't want her to leave. I want everything to continue as is. And I definitely don't want to be thrown back into searching for childcare yet again.

Why, oh why does she need to change her major and have to go to class during the day starting in September?

So now the big question is nanny or daycare.

We have absolutely loved our experience with having a nanny, but on the flip side would it be good for Cruz to get back into a group experience that a daycare can offer? Is the convenience of having a nanny come to our home and care for our son where he is comfortable outweigh the major cost difference? I mean girlfriend isn't cheap...I'm talking more than our mortgage not cheap. But it is the care of our kid we are talking about.

At this point I'm not exactly sure what we are going to do. We have appointments to check out a couple daycares in the area, one very much not in the area but the price is right and a couple of interviews with nannies.

I suppose only time will tell on this one.