Hi fellow mommies (and mommies to be)! I have a big decision to make regarding work and would really appreciate some input. I have been a working mom from the home office since mid-January, only having to occasionally go into the office for meetings (~2-4 times/month). Working from home with an infant has been a challenge for me, but so worth it because I have been able to maintain our home and stay home with M to experience all of the newness that makes motherhood so wonderful!
Much has happened in the past month. Right before seven months, M was introduced to solids. He did well with cereals but hated baby foods, so I chose to make food for him. Having a lot of food allergies myself and with M having some pretty severe eczema (usually a precursor to allergies), I have cautiously and carefully introduced foods after six months of age and one at a time to give his digestive and immune systems time to adapt to solids. He has done well and only had allergic reactions to two foods: yogurt (he had serious hives around his mouth) and peaches (minor hives on the face). This just means we'll stay away from dairy products and peaches and reintroduce them later. Until then, I am eating both in hopes that exposure via breast milk will assist in developing a tolerance/desensitivity to both. So far, he loves rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, zucchini, rice, avocado, and tolerates potatoes (a little too dry for his taste).
Right about the time I started solids, his first two bottom teeth began peeking through the gums. A few weeks later, his top two teeth made an appearance. If this keeps up, he'll have a mouth full in about five months! Now at eight months teeth number five and six are beginning to tear through his gum line. Thank goodness M is getting teeth in pairs thus far; twice the teeth and hopefully half the pain.
In addition to the teeth and foods, M is also crawling. He began by rolling and then progressed to the belly crawl. He has now graduated to crawling on all fours (although he still prefers the belly crawl) and is pulling himself up and taking assisted steps. He actually took his first step for my dad the day before Memorial Day--go Grandpa! Month seven (and so far month eight) has been busy, busy for little M.
Not only has M experienced so much, there have been a whirlwind of changes for our family. Without going into too many details, let's just say that D is working more and getting paid less than before (he already worked a lot of hours). Hey, at least he has a job, right? He travels quite a bit, so I am all M sees day in and day out (occasionally he gets sick of looking at my mug so I get him out of the house to play with other kids). Without having consistent help (or even knowing when D will come home), my working days turn into nights and don't seem to ever end. Several weeks ago, I asked a neighborhood girl to help watch M. V comes over twice a week for about 1-1.5 hours and plays with him. She is new to babysitting, but seems to be taking to it very naturally. M also really likes her. It has already been established that he is a sucker for pretty girls. ;D
Having a baby who is crawling and into everything makes it next to impossible to get much accomplished around the house and with work. My work hours have started to slowly diminish and my productivity is not par for the job. I am now forced to choose between going into the office twice a week (~5-6 hours/day) or quit working and stay at home with M. Being a double-edged sword, I now need to decide if our family can afford (and find) part-time daycare or if we can afford living soley on D's income. In an ideal world I would love to stay home with M and enjoy every minute of it, but I would feel guilty that I could not contribute to the family income (the main reason I chose to return to work in the first place). In the real world, we cannot afford to diminish our income even more; another hit this year will not help us pay bills.
Another option that D and I are tossing around is providing childcare for one or two to supplement our income. My thoughts are to offer part-time care and D thinks it would be helpful to offer pick-up service in the morning (and possibly drop-off service in the evening). We think charging hourly rather than for the entire day will give parents a little more flexibility. We aren't sure how feasible and practical this option is, but it is definitely something to consider.
What I would very much appreciate is some input. Feel free to e-mail or reply to this blog entry, or to call if you have my number. In addition to commenting on the information I provided here, please provide me with the following information on your daycare experience(s) so that we can make the best decision for M and for our family: daycare name, type of daycare (in home, at a facility, at provider's home), part-time or full-time care, cost, type of fee (flat rate or hourly rate), and anything else that you may find helpful. If nothing more, some encouragement and similar experiences will be most helpful. Thanks so much!
