Daycare dilemma rears its ugly head again

Daycare.

We love it for convenience. We hate it because it means others are caring for our children. And until society creates a suitable alternative, we’re stuck with it.

To the outsider, the concept is simple: Call up a daycare, take a look around, drop your baby off Monday morning and go about your business.

The depths to which parents have to plan this process, however, rival those of a NASA lunar landing. There’s the research into licensing, the operating hours, the tours, the waiting lists, the geographical considerations, even the choice between secular and faith-based.

The details are dizzying, and making the right choice is crucial for your baby’s well being and your peace of mind.

I have been in the process of enrolling my son in a new daycare in Grand Haven, because the current facility has had serious staffing issues. I won’t rehash the whole rigmarole, but the end result was to keep him in the current daycare for one more week, then a private sitter will watch him while I work for one month, then he will begin attending his new daycare.

Of course, this WAS the plan until I received a call Sunday evening informing me that my current daycare facility was shutting its doors immediately.

Nothing inspires a panic attack like not knowing what to do with your baby when you’re scheduled to work all week.

I was able to call in every favor of every family member and friend to get through this next week, but it got me to thinking: How do other parents handle the juggernaut of daycare? And, once the children are in daycare, how do parents know the kids are receiving quality care?

I expected the sleepless nights, the erratic schedule of eating and sleeping, the spontaneity of joyful and awful moments, the daily plan changes, even the unexpected purchases.

But I never knew daycare would be such a source of anxiety, and that such drama surrounded such facilities. Behind those sweet smiles are real people who are just like you and me — they don’t like their boss or they wish things were run differently.

Blindly trusting in the institution was naïve on my part. But now I’m more the wiser.