Nanny Services over Daycare
Well after a few long discussions, a budget review that came out for daycare, a pro and con list that came out pro-nanny, and a exhausted discussion on the future we have decided to hire a full time nanny.
It isn't an easy decision. In fact, we kind of feel we just drove off the lot with a Porshe when our budget originally indicated a Ford. But here it is, at least for us. I am working and making now, just enough to cover our expenses and we need to dip into savings monthly to cover extras. The birth of the babies transformed us from a family that didn't need to think about money, but was fairly careful in our investments and expenses. We had a nice savings and were able to do what we wanted when we wanted, although we were careful in exercising this. When we purchased our last home we did so not by what we were able to comfortably borrow, but by what we knew we could support with a single income, just in case.
A is going back to work and her income will translate into the cost of our Nanny. She will truely be working for childcare. Our decision will make us take nearly twice from savings than daycare and will have us do so at a fairly fast pace. So why do it? Well for us at least, it was a tradeoff. Daycare would be more cost effective, but we weren't sure it was worth the race. The tradeoff list included an increased occurance for them to be sick, less one-on-one attention for the kids, and much more management from us.
Some days are still very long and tiresome. What used to be occassional laundry has become daily. The dishwasher is run twice a day, the kitchen floor swept 3-4 times a day and the garbage is taken out daily. This is on top of the care and attention that one nine year old and three one years olds need.
So we have purchased ourselves some peace of mind. Instead of coming home from work and carrying in three kids and unloading their stuff, then jumping into a quick snack for all, homework detail for the older, and dinner prep..... and so on and so forth. We have instead decided to come home to three babies that have been fed their snack and are ready for dinner and an evening just a bit less ciaotic.
We have, for the first time in our lives together, purchased a luxery for ourselves and now have to work to afford that choice. We will. We know it will be hard and of course, it is scary. But we believe that things will work out and that people tend to rise to the occasion, as will we. I don't know that it will work out just as we plan, because so many things in life are out of our control. I do know that we understand what it will take and want to make it work. I also know that we are very happy with our choice. We feel a little more pressure financially, but a lot less stress and worry in our lives.