[quote=Ren][quote=temeculaguy]Just an addendum, the 2k daycare is bugging me.[/quote]
Me too. Full time, decent quality daycare (the chains like Discovery Isle, which actually potty train) is $700-$900/month, depending on the area, for one child of 2 or older.
My boy’s grandmother recently announced her retirement from baby sitting any of the grandchildren, but finding a live-in, legal, retired person to nanny can be extremely cheap. I know someone who has just that, a former nurse, at $400/month.[/quote]
I haven’t heard of that chain (it would be probably $900 per kid in my area, not that far from 1000 per kid what I pay now). I have only found Kindercare and La Petite Academy, A Brighter future and of course Montessori. But they were not convenient to our work and home (UCSD) and commute is a killer at rush hours. I live in UTC area and the kids go to UCSD daycare. Not exactly fancy, but convenient and it’s pretty good. I chose it for its quality, superior to others like Kindercare and La Petite Academy (we visited them all). LONG waiting lists for UCSD daycare. Thinking of switching to Montessori which is only a little more expensive, but better for our kids. Believe me, we cringed when we found out how much it was costing , that was before even the kids were born, and asked around friends and co-workers to find cheaper but reliable options and it was usually grandparents for the infants (option not available for us), then, UCSD daycare. And these were people in academia, not even faculty, therefore not rich or high income. Nobody had a live-in relative or nanny – probably because of living space constraints or simply unavailable. Many from UCSD academia are foreigners, so perhaps the options we found were skewed.
I think it’s very hard to find a live-in that is trustworthy AND provides good education, activities and entertainment for active, challenging kids. I probably won’t qualify if I stayed home (LOL)!!! – I won’t be able to keep up and beg to return to work. Forget about cleaning and cooking.
