Daycare...(by Jonathan)

So it's been somewhat of a stressful week. Or actually month really. Both Karen and I have been really busy at work. Karen is working really hard to stay focused on her job and career while I am just trying to keep my business afloat. The lousy housing market directly affects the furniture industry and needless to say--sales have been bad.
To top it off, the family daycare we go to has been a struggle. There are some days where the owner complains that Akemi didn't eat, doesn't play with other kids, doesn't sleep, cries all day, blah blah blah...and then there are other days when she apparently is just fine. More than once I have shown up and Akemi is crying (same for Karen). The owner is hard to communicate with and is somewhat defensive when we try to ask what is going on. We always feel like it is our fault that Akemi isn't doing something right. It doesn't seem like Akemi is very happy there.
For me just dropping her off and picking her off has also been a pain. The location is opposite the direction both Karen and I drive to work, so we make a big loop when dropping or picking her up. Now that summer is over, the freeways are more crowded and it takes me over an hour to drop her off and get to work. When I pick her up I always have to leave early, so I have been getting behind at work as well. Karen and I've talked about taking her out, but finding a nanny or alternate daycare has been almost impossible. We've interviewed several possible nannies, but they never work out.
Our last hope was actually another daycare/preschool called Kidz Club that we had originally looked into, but had a year waiting list. When we originally put our name down, they told us January of 2009!
When when we started having problems with our current daycare, I called Kidz Club a couple months ago and they told me maybe they would have openings in the Fall.
Then I called a couple weeks ago and they told me that a space had just opened up! But there were a couple people ahead of me. Only if they passed, would Akemi be next. Karen and I crossed our fingers, but I personally didn't think we had a chance. So in the meantime we set up two more interviews for home nannies.
But God was good to us today because I got a call in the morning and was told that the people ahead of us on the list passed, so Akemi was in!! I could barely control my excitement when I was talking to the admissions director over the phone. We were told that Akemi could start as soon as Monday, September 29th.
We had one last obstacle, which was to tell our current daycare that we were leaving. Karen was pretty apprehensive because she was did not like dealing with the owner. According to our contract, we were supposed to give at least THREE weeks notice. But we did not want to wait that long, yet at the same time we didn't want to be paying for both places.
As it turned out, the current daycare agreed to let us terminate after two weeks. Akemi will start at Kidz Club on Sept 29th, so we'll still be paying for a week at the old daycare. But it's a small price to pay for peace of mind.
I don't really know if Akemi will be any happier at Kidz Klub. But at least for Karen and I, the commute will be so much easier (about 1/2 mile away).They also have more flexible hours and are open on the weekends. I also believe that for infants, it is one caretaker per child!
We are going to Disneyland tomorrow. Karen's company is treating. I am looking forward to a good weekend.