Back on the East coast, we don't (or didn't anyway) get this thing in October called "Fall Break". I was shocked when I first moved here and learned of these two extra days the kids out this way got off from school in October. Oh, and most schools in these parts get the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off as well. Sheesh.
Well, my kids actually don't get those two days off in October, much as I didn't growing up. Their school chooses to observe those two days off during the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. Add that to the Wednesday off day and to the Thanksgiving holidays, and what you end up with is a whole week off. Cool for them. Yuck for me.
It's yuck because I have to go through this ordeal every year of finding child care for the kiddos, which is harder than you might expect for school-aged children. Not all daycare centers staff "school age teachers" at all times, so I'm always a little nervous about this week.
For the past couple years we've been going to a particular center that has been mostly reliable in having the right kind of teachers, but consistent with the way my month has gone, my child care luck ran out this Thanksgiving week.
I called the center last week to inquire as to whether I could take the kids there this year, and I received an affirmative. At the time I wiped my brow in relief and went about my day. So I was pretty surprised when I walked into the daycare center this morning with my kids, only to have the front desk lady tell me, "uh, we can't take them today."
She gave me the whole no teacher bit and I explained my apparently non-existent previous conversation with their employee, but no progress was made, and I found myself moments later in the parking lot, late for work, with nowhere to take my two children.
I couldn't take them home (too many things to do today)... I couldn't take them to work (one would have been okay, two is a zoo)... I had no idea if there was another center around that would take them... ugh.
So we drove to the nearby IHOP parking lot (as I knew that business had free wireless internet that bled onto the street), I got out my laptop and wireless internet card, and I got online to search for daycare centers. After several minutes of searching and calling, the morning was salvaged when I found a place that would take them.
I found it ironic when I got to the new daycare facility that ALL of the kids but one were five and under. Kindergarten students. Which was similar to the population at the daycare center I just left. Oh well, I stopped questioning it and got the kids checked in. Shelby was smiling right away because she was one of the big kids on the block. I could see in her face that she was going to like it there. While Darby didn't express discord, I was a little worried that she wouldn't have a good time.
It was nine by the time I got to work. I worked several hours before having to leave to visit the bank to sign some papers. I had my car refinanced with an extended warranty tacked onto the loan. Same interest rate and only twenty bucks added to my payment. With only seven hundred miles left on my factory warranty, but more than three years left on my loan, I was getting a little nervous about the potential for a problem, especially considering our travel plans for the next couple of years. But now with my new 100,000 mile, zero deductible warranty, I can have some peace of mind about it instead.
On the way back from the bank, I had to pick up my repaired screens and storm windows. Following the burglary, I had the broken window replaced the next day, but the window guy had to take my broken storm windows with him for custom work. Plus there were a couple of broken screens that needed to be replaced.
Back at work, I was able to get a few more hours of work in, and got done with much of what I needed to do before having to leave to get the girls. Once I picked them up they were VERY rowdy, I assume from being around the little ones most of the day (other school aged children did arrive after 3pm it turns out), but they both had a decent time of it. Shelby says it was the best daycare ever and hopes they are going back there tomorrow. She's such a character.
While at daycare, Darby lost a tooth. Twice. First, she "lost a tooth", as in it was loose, but then fell out. Then she lost the actual tooth. So, no tooth fairy visit for her I guess...
UPDATE, 23 NOV
Darby found her tooth at daycare today!
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