The Daycare Quest

Yesterday, I finally signed the papers and committed ourselves to a daycare. I pretty much knew which one we were going to use from the beginning because of the daycare's location. Oh, wait....excuse me...it's not a daycare, it's a "learning center". They even corrected me when I used the horrible word, "daycare".

I visited the one we eventually chose a couple times already, and then just to be sure, I visited another. The other daycare made me feel soooo much better about our first choice. As I was leaving choice #2, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to cry or throw up. I'm sure it was fine, but it made me realize how much better my first choice was.

Before signing the papers and handing over the big check, they let me hang out in the baby room for awhile. I stayed for about an hour and visited with the ladies who will be taking care of Zoe for me in the day time. I also got to meet Zoe's new friends and one of the other mothers. After that, I feel so, so, sooo much better about leaving her there. The ladies are all older, loving, and very attentive. The other mother raved about the place, and the babies are all cute, active, and seem to be happy. Even Zoe had a good time hanging out in there with the babies.

My only problem (other than the fact that she has to go there at all) is what they feed these kids. In the baby room, I can take whatever I want her to eat, but in the young toddler room (where she will go when she can walk and use a sippy cup) she has to eat what they provide. The menu is full of fried meat, canned veggies (high sodium), and canned fruit (high fructose corn syrup). For snacks they even eat sugary or salty things. I know they have to go the cheap route, but the least they could do is let me bring in a lunch. I do have the option of choosing a vegetarian menu, which I may do. It's not much better, but at least it's not hamburger/chicken nuggets/fish sticks/ or fried beef sticks. What the heck are fried beef sticks anyway????