General explosiveness

I was going to title this post "shitstorm"-- we have been in one, literally and figuratively, lately. The poor little dude has had some pretty insane diarrhea since Saturday, complete with an old-school-esque blow-out at Sophia and Joe's new place. Nothing like christening a new home with a ton of baby poo, right? Good times. The poor thing still has the runs and a HORRID diaper rash on top of everything... I thought about taking a picture, but a) that would scare the crap (yeah, yeah) out of many folks, and b) if Chickie ever saw those pics later in life, things could get uuuuuuuuuugly. I feel like this one alone is serious blackmail/wedding rehearsal dinner slideshow material:

Yeah, that's poo dripping down my leg. Good times.

So, aside from the poop-fest, I am still in the middle of my childcare search shitstorm. I think, for the most part, that the options are still shitty, and the actual shittiness of each option is coming more and more into focus. Yeah, shit it totally the theme here. Can't help myself. I've been told by at least 5 people that I talk about poo more than anyone else they know, and this was BEFORE I had Chickie. You do the math.

So, here's where we are:
Option 1: Bright lights and insanity (aka Center-based daycare). A center near work has an opening, and it could be ours if we give them a vital organ each month. It costs over $200 more per month than Laura's, so really, why the fuck am I working if this is my option? To stay sane? Oy. And the infuriating part of the equation is that the provider to child ratio is 1 to 4 and often 1 to 4.5, and for the money we'd pay, that kinda blows. But yes, beggars aren't choosers, so we're gonna check it out tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Option 2: Dirty daycare. Seriously. It's a family daycare in JP, and many folks I've spoken with say it's great and CHEAP, but it's really, really dirty. Apparently, there's a sort of junk-yard in the front yard, and the house smells funky, and the kids come home smelling odd and covered in grime. All of this said, the provider is apparently a doll, and the kids LOVE her and are happy as all get-out, so who knows. She hasn't called me back yet, but word on the street is that she has openings for part time.

Option 3: Nanny share. Now, yes, you may be thinking, "Oh, that sounds nice!" But in reality, I'm leaning less and less towards this option. I talked to someone last night that I met last summer at the new moms' support group here in JP, and she's looking for a nanny and would be interested in looking together... but she says that most of the nannys out there are students, and this is her 3rd search for a nanny in a year. There is no WAY IN HELL that I am dealing with this bullshit in a year, so any option that isn't clearly stable is NOT AN OPTION.

And it's worth mentioning that I decided to check out Arc-en-ciel again... this place is totally the cadillac of daycares, and I'd have to give them a vital organ every day to pay for it, but a couple people have mentioned it to me as a great option. I looked there when I was pregnant, and I was blown away by all the insane shit they have. There's even a French woman who comes and sings freaking French songs with the kids every day! The whole thing is moderately ridiculous-- after all, when I was 37 weeks pregnant and went to check it out, the woman there told me that the preschool is a direct feeder into the best private schools in the area... hello??!? My baby was still in my body, mashing his head into my bladder, and you expect me to pee myself at the prospect of sending him to freaking Park School in 5 years? Dude. And the funniest thing is that on the Arc-en-ciel website, they don't even list a freaking phone number-- to contact them, you have to fill out a freaking online form, and they contact YOU.

More to come once we see Option 1 tomorrow.