The Mummy Diaries: Childcare

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang. All opinions are mine.

What are my thoughts about choosing the right childcare for your child? I think the childcare we chose for our kids will be different for each family. There are so many possible situations and circumstances to consider. Also, each child is different, so what may suit one child in a particular family may not necessarily suit his or her sibling.

What childcare choices have we made for our family and what has our experience been like? Thanks to the lovely people at Bepanthen and The Mummy Diaries, my parenting story in regards to our family’s childcare choices have been captured on film. Yep, my parenting confessions have been captured in all its animated, (read embarrassing / I’ll have to explain so much to my children when they are old enough to understand), glory.

(If you’re reading this in an e-mail or reader, click HERE to see the Mummy Diaries video).

So, here’s how childcare has worked for our family thus far:

• When the twins, N & M were born, my lovely mother helped me through the toughest transition of my life. She came over and cooked, cleaned and did that dreaded 5am feed. She even brought me breakfast in bed and fed me, while I twin fed (using the football hold). I am ever so grateful for her love and care.
• By the time E was born, sadly my mother had passed away due to cancer. This was when I armed myself with ‘the Manny’. Lol. I had help for an hour each morning, during which I made sure we headed out so the twins could burn of some of that never ending energy!
• Then came Miss K. She was actually due to be born around the Christmas/ New Year period, so we all thought that Hubby could spare a few weeks at home during that holiday period. Miss K, however, decided to arrive 7 weeks early. It helped immensely that N and M were in preschool two days a week at the time. The challenge, however, was when I needed to go to the NICU to feed Miss K  close to every 3 hours. We enlisted some casual babysitters to help during those times if hubby was not at home. 
• I’m about to head back to work next year (2014) after five years of back-to-back maternity leave, and four kids later! Talk about wanting to bury my head in the sand. The boys, N&M will be in school; E will continue going to the preschool he is currently attending, but now to find childcare for Miss K. Finding available childcare is tough; then there’s finding childcare that we love (and can afford!). Am I alone in feeling that parents should qualify for tertiary qualifications for finding the right people to help look after their kids?! There’s so much involved!

Now, an explanation to my incredibly understanding and forgiving readers for my very giggly, bad-hair day appearance in the Mummy Diaries:

Yes, I do laugh and giggle a lot. Especially when I’m around my friends and people I like. If I’m not laughing and giggling heaps, I may be having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, (or in the process of having one).

Yes, I have terrible posture. My chiropractor is in the midst of fixing that, along with my weekly Pilates with equipment sessions. Film me again in a year and hopefully we’ll see less slouching.

Yes, I was having a very bad hair day. I did try to tame my hair, but the first part of the filming happened at an outdoor park and we were caught out in the rain. My hair has cowlick tendencies on the best of days, but golly! When it rains there is no taming that cowlick.

Yes, I really enjoy those days we have preschool. For the record, so do my kids. BTW, we still love each other to bits.

Yes, I did say that staying at home with my children is boring. Upon hearing my own words, I cringe. I am sorry I said it. I am even more sorry for saying it so bluntly and casually because I do not want my children, or other stay at home mothers to be discouraged by my comments. I value being home with my children – that’s why I chose to stay at home with my kids. However, even though I am home with with my kids, I am not always engaged with my children and being present in the moment with them, hence my feelings of guilt and failure as a parent. What I really meant by my comments was that the Groundhog Day nature of being at home with the kids often drags me down. That being said, I think there are ways to transform the mundane everyday. It’s all about perspective. So, before I get receive those rebuking comments, please read this again….

No… Did I did say I used a Manny because he had muscles?! Talk about digging myself into a hole. It didn’t sound that bad in my head before I blurted it out. In all seriousness, there were and are no dodgy perceptions or intentions on my part in all things Manny related.

A thousand thanks to Em Rusciano, and my good friends Vanessa and Huong, for such a great (and fun!) chat about choosing the right childcare for our children. And a heartfelt thank you to Bepanthen for creating the Mummy Diaries so we can all sigh, laugh and cry together as we do this parenting thing. To the mummies and daddies out there, I’m sure you already know how good Bepanthen is for your darling bubbas; it soothes, heals and is full of pro-vitamin B5 – but just in case you’re searching for protection from nappy rash in your sleep deprived state of being, I thought I should mention it again. (Nappy rash on your bubba, not you… I too may be sleep deprived…).

So be it, working mum, stay at home mum, part time working mum, freelance mum, work from home mums, we all need help raising our kids. Who is your village?

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