#mysleepstyle: A Wayfair Campaign

Did you guys know that May is Better Sleep Month? Yeah, me either. Until yesterday, when Wayfair.com contacted me about teaming up to write a post about getting my kids to bed and sharing using #mysleepstyle. 

It was perfect timing, because earlier in the day, I had been browsing their website picking out new bedding for Megan's room (for our new house!) Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite bedding pics for Megan's new room and I'm sharing my best sleep tips for getting your honey pie's to sleep so you can have your "me" time at the end of a long day!

First up, my bedding picks. This is the first house that we are buying with three children. DJ and I have kids, and the other when Gretchen was a mere tot. Now that we have decided to buy a house again, I knew right away that I wanted to paint my big girls bedrooms in their favorite colors. Gretchen's favorite color is pink, and her bedding will be perfect and is still in great shape! (My mom made it when we transitioned Gretchen into her big girl bed) and Megan's favorite color is purple. 

This is her current bedroom, and I absolutely love the pale blues, pinks, and green, but her quilt won't work for room with purple walls. 

So, I've been on a mission to find the perfect bedding for my Megan. Since, Wayfair.com asked me to write a post, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite sets that just might go in Megan's room.

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I love the polk a dots on this one, plus it will coordinate well with her white eyelet curtains and bedskirt that I plan on keeping. 

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I thought this one had really fun colors, and it won't get as dirty as my other picks. Megan has a tree painting with a pink background that I plan on keeping, and I think these will coordinate well together. 

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This is definitely a top choice! I love that there's a mixture of purple and yellow, and that "play" pillow is just too cute! Again, I'm a little afraid of all the white! But, the bedspread looks like it reverses to a purple with white dot!

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I must be craving polk-a-dots, but I love this simple quilt! Again, it would match with everything we already add, and then I could bring in my own accent colors (whereas the one above, I'd be stuck with yellow.) Since we already have pink throw pillows and the pink painting, then I'd likely use pink as my accent color. 

Now that I may have bedding picked out for my middle, let's talk about how I get my kids to sleep better at night!

From early on, I always wanted my babes to sleep well. Now, I know sleep habits and solutions are controversial when it comes to babies, and I'm not getting into that, but I AM saying that establishing a good routine from early on is so important! As soon as my girls came home from the hospital, we did as best as we could to get into a good consistent bedtime routine!

When my girls were babies, they ALWAYS went to sleep well in their crib! Our typical routine was to read a book, rock to a lullaby CD, say a prayer, and kiss good night. I've never rocked the girls to sleep. For one, I didn't want the girls to learn to rely on the rocking motion to fall asleep- that would make for very long nights if they would wake up in the middle of the night! It's just what worked for me and the girls- if you want to rock your babe to sleep- go for it!

All of the girls had their "lovies" when they were babies. Gretchen and Megan just wanted their pacifiers (or "dede" as Megan called hers) and Adalyn only wants her thumb and ballet baby. We are all about the lovies in our house!

Now that the big girls are bigger, they don't sleep with paci's anymore. They do however request a cup of water. It's a total security thing. Most of the time, Megan doesn't even drink her cup, but she wants a new cup of water on her nightstand each night.

Over the years, we had difficulty transitioning from crib to toddler bed. Megan was definitely the hardest transition of all, but to be fair, Adalyn is still in her crib, and I plan on keeping her there for a while! We kept our bedtime routine the same, minus the rocking. Once they transitioned into a big girl bed, the rocking chair was typically taken out of their room. I do remember that my big girls were super excited to get a big girl bed, and once they fell asleep, they mostly stayed asleep. However, once Megan figured out that she could get out of the bed- we had a problem. 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Megan falls asleep on the floor a lot! Like, 2 or 3 nights a week! Here's the deal: when we transitioned Megan to her big girl bed, I was pregnant with Adalyn and EXHAUSTED. After DJ and I spent weeks upon weeks upon weeks battling with Megan, we finally gave up. She won. I have no qualms admitting this failure on my part as her mother. We finally gave up, and thought, you know, if she falls asleep on the floor while we are watching t.v. so be it. She won't do it forever (and really, she has started falling asleep in her bed MOST nights), and when we go to bed, we move her back. Really, it has gotten so much better over the last several weeks!

Here's what I've noticed though: when Megan goes to daycare and has a nap, which is every day, she has a difficult time falling asleep. But, if we can wear her out in the evenings by taking her out to play and letting her burn off energy, she goes to sleep much faster! On the weekends, we skip naps all together, and we don't have a bedtime battle.

She's almost 4 and has grown out of needing naps. Our daycare has a rule though, that kids have to lay down for at least 45 minutes- undoubtedly, Megan will fall asleep. 

So, on the weekends, her bedtime routine is much better and she sleeps better than she does during the week. We get her pj's on, DJ reads her a story from the Bible, they say prayers and he says goodnight. I come in a bit later and give her another kiss, and she most often falls asleep in her bed. 

Gretchen has been the easiest of all putting to sleep. When she was younger, we would follow the same bedtime routine. But now that she's older, we give her a kiss, send her to bed, and she stays up for a little bit reading before turning out her light. There are still several nights where DJ or I go upstairs with her, listen to her read, say her prayers, and then tuck her in. However, as soon as we leave the room, she grabs her book, turns on her lamp, and reads until we have her turn her light off. 

So, my best tips for getting your kids to establish their own sleep style:

1. Establish a consistent routine.
2. Drop naps when it's appropriate for your child.
3. Help your child burn off extra energy before bed- typically 5:30-6:30 works best in our house. 
4. Have a calming period. After bath time, start your calming routine- maybe have the child watch a favorite t.v. show for 20 minutes, or sit and read books with your child. 
5. Use "lovies" or things that provide your kids with security during the night. (paci's, favorite toys, or a drink!)
6. Go with the flow. If you're tired of the battle. Stop fighting. Your child won't sleep with you forever, they won't sleep in their crib forever, or on the floor. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'd love for you to share your comments on how you get your child to sleep better!

I was asked by Wayfair.com to participate in their #mysleepstyle campaign. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post. 

I Am Not Super Mom

My sister in law, and several other mom friends joke with me that I'm "super mom". I'm here today to tell you, "No, I'm just a mom. A tired, exhausted, very busy mom. Just like you."

My kitchen sink was full of dishes. This picture was taken Monday afternoon when I came home on my lunch break. These dishes started piling up on Saturday morning and didn't leave my sink until 5:30 pm Monday.

This is what my laundry room currently looks like. I have a pile of Gretchen's clothes to carry upstairs. I kid you not the baskets were empty on Saturday, and they're pretty much full today. I wash towels every other darn day. DJ and I even re-use our towels AND the girls bathe every other day. But, I always have dirty towels. 

I have a load in my dryer that has been there since Saturday, and the load in the washer. Well, I washed it Monday afternoon, and it's still sitting in the washer building up it's mildew smell. 

This is what my center island looks like.... after I cleaned it.

And my stove. Well, those cinnamon rolls were cooked on Saturday morning and they were finally picked up on Monday night. 

I gave my girls doughnuts for breakfast on Sunday, and for breakfast on Monday, and Gretchen had half of a doughnut on Monday night right before she went to bed. (I did make her brush her teeth though.)

This bench is in my bedroom. The laundry basket has been there for I don't know how many days. The scarf, since Friday, the dress since Sunday morning, and the pile of clothes that the white dress is laying on top of.... well, those have been there for over a month.

Here are two pairs of shoes that are sitting about 10 feet from my closet, yet they're not in there, and if you turn around, you'll find a pair of wedges behind you. Oh, and DJ has two pair in the bathroom, there's a pair laying on my kitchen floor. Actually, two pair- one pair is mine, the other pair belongs to Megan.

Thank God my living room is clean y'all!

I just want y'all to know that yes, I'm busy. I have a lot on my plate. But, I am not super mom. I'm just a mom who is trying her best, just like you.

And you know what..... we are super mom's... but only in the eyes of our children; and that is what matters most.

I Am Not Super Mom

My sister in law, and several other mom friends joke with me that I'm "super mom". I'm here today to tell you, "No, I'm just a mom. A tired, exhausted, very busy mom. Just like you."

My kitchen sink was full of dishes. This picture was taken Monday afternoon when I came home on my lunch break. These dishes started piling up on Saturday morning and didn't leave my sink until 5:30 pm Monday.

This is what my laundry room currently looks like. I have a pile of Gretchen's clothes to carry upstairs. I kid you not the baskets were empty on Saturday, and they're pretty much full today. I wash towels every other darn day. DJ and I even re-use our towels AND the girls bathe every other day. But, I always have dirty towels. 

I have a load in my dryer that has been there since Saturday, and the load in the washer. Well, I washed it Monday afternoon, and it's still sitting in the washer building up it's mildew smell. 

This is what my center island looks like.... after I cleaned it.

And my stove. Well, those cinnamon rolls were cooked on Saturday morning and they were finally picked up on Monday night. 

I gave my girls doughnuts for breakfast on Sunday, and for breakfast on Monday, and Gretchen had half of a doughnut on Monday night right before she went to bed. (I did make her brush her teeth though.)

This bench is in my bedroom. The laundry basket has been there for I don't know how many days. The scarf, since Friday, the dress since Sunday morning, and the pile of clothes that the white dress is laying on top of.... well, those have been there for over a month.

Here are two pairs of shoes that are sitting about 10 feet from my closet, yet they're not in there, and if you turn around, you'll find a pair of wedges behind you. Oh, and DJ has two pair in the bathroom, there's a pair laying on my kitchen floor. Actually, two pair- one pair is mine, the other pair belongs to Megan.

Thank God my living room is clean y'all!

I just want y'all to know that yes, I'm busy. I have a lot on my plate. But, I am not super mom. I'm just a mom who is trying her best, just like you.

And you know what..... we are super mom's... but only in the eyes of our children; and that is what matters most.

Saying Bye to the Dede

Megan is a dede addict. She has had her paci for two years and three months. When she was 14 months old, DJ suggested that we take it away from her, because Gretchen was the same age when hers was taken away. I promptly told him no, that she was my last baby and that she wasn't ready. Honestly, I wasn't ready, and little did I know that she was not my last baby.

In March 2013, Megan's daycare teacher had successfully taken away the 'dede' at nap time. We weren't as successful at home. 

In June, Megan stayed home with me full time. There were a lot of changes going on, and I didn't want to take away her comfort. She had transitioned from her crib to a toddler bed, then to a full size bed, to being home, to traveling, potty training, getting a new baby sister, and finally in August, getting four teeth. Truth be told, I kept looking for excuses to keep her dede.

I think she calls her pacifier a 'dede' because her teacher, Miss Julie (JuJu) calls pacifiers a binky. Megan's word "binky" sounded like "dede" so it stuck.

A few weeks ago, we came home from a birthday party, and we had misplaced both of Megan's dedes. I ended up getting one that I had purchased for Adalyn and gave to her. My mom told me it would've been the perfect time to take away her dede. Again, I wasn't ready.

This past Sunday night, we yet again, misplaced two dedes before bed. DJ and I looked all over the house for them and could not find them anywhere. So, we tucked her in, told her the dedes were lost, and made the decision that she was done with her dede.

Meggie cried and cried, and DJ did find one dede, but I told him that we would not give it back. This was go time.

She cried for about two hours Sunday night, but she did eventually fall asleep and sleep through the night.

I had talked to her for several weeks about buying a dede bear. I had the idea after reading Kellys Korner blog. The plan was to take Megan to Build-a-Bear and let her choose an animal and safely tuck her dede's inside the bear. I had originally planned to do this on a day Gretchen was in school, but again, I wasn't ready.

So, after Megan slept through the night Sunday without her dede, we decided to celebrate by going to Build-a-Bear. 

It was a crazy morning trying to get all three girls ready and out of the house. I even got up early (okay, it was 7:45, but that's early to me!) but it was chaos, and we didn't get out of the house until 10:30. I almost changed my mind and decided not to go, but I was dressed, the girls were dressed, and I was somewhat determined. But man, i'm telling you, everything was going wrong. I'm pretty sure the bathroom sink was overflowed again, pee was on the floor, and the carseat attachment for our double stroller was in DJs truck.

I dressed the girls in a watermelon theme.

We eventually made it to the mall.

Meggie picked out a bunny rather than a bear.

She is my shy little child. Always cautious before making a move. The stuffing machine scared the crap out of her. I mean, she was terrified, like, running away screaming terrified. So, there I was in Build-a-Bear with a baby strapped to my chest, chasing a toddler, and Gretchen was all like, "i'll stuff it for you." And, she did. 

I pulled Meggie's dede out of my purse, and she instantly put it in her mouth. I'm sure to be relieved of the loud stuffing machine, or just as one last time. I told her she had to put her dede in her bunny, and she took it out of her mouth, we said, our goodbyes, and she put the dede in her bunny.

I teared up.

The bunny was finally stuffed and it was time to give her bunny a bath.

But, that wasn't happening either. The bathtub was entirely too loud for Megan. Instead, I convinced G to leave it off, and we brushed the bunny's hair instead.

Then, we picked out her clothes. A pink princess dress and pink high heeled shoes. And, we finally made a birth certificate for the dede bunny.

Meggie loved her dede bunny!

G was allowed to take her bear that she made this summer and pick out a new outfit for it. She chose a princess shirt, tutu, roller skates, and a wand for her Cinderella bear.

After Build-a-Bear, I decided we would just eat at the mall rather than getting home and trying to do a million things at once... you know, get the girls out of the car, in the house, feed Addy, fix lunch, eat lunch, potty, and get the girls down for a nap. No way was it happening without me pulling out my hair. So, a peaceful lunch at the food court was planned.

In line at CFA, I saw Meggie sucking her thumb. Uh-oh, I was a thumb sucker. I swear, I sucked my thumb until I was at least 8, and I fondly remember washing the hot sauce off of my thumb. I was a smart one.

So, this was our scene at lunch.

I left Meggie in her stroller to eat. No way was I going to chase her through the food court.

Addy enjoyed her nap in the bjorn.

Meggie snuggled with her bunny some more.

We went into the Limited, because everything was 50% off! Um yes. Just what I needed to make myself feel normal. I resisted though and only bought one new shirt. You're welcome DJ.

G had to have her picture taken with the headless mannequins.

Finally, we headed home. 

Meggie fell asleep for about five minutes in the car with her dede bunny.

While it was great that she fell asleep without her dede, she did not take a nap once we came home. In fact, she cried and then played in her room for over an hour.

G got sent to her room for a time out, and this is what I ended up looking like:

It honestly sums up our whole week! It's been a busy one and i'm exhausted!

It's now been three nights, and while Meggie still cries at bedtime, she's not crying for an obscene amount of time. The first night it was two hours. Now it's maybe 30 minutes. She missed a nap the first day, but has napped since then. She took her dede bunny to school on Tuesday, but not on Wednesday. In fact, I think it's just another toy for her, and not a replacement comfort object. The first night, she did try to look at the back of the bunny to figure out how she could tear it open to get her dede out. I gently reminded her that she had put her dede inside and that it wouldn't come out. In retrospect, we probably could have gotten rid of her dede sooner. She was probably more ready than I thought she was.

If I had to give you advice about getting rid of the dede, I'd say just go for it. Talk it up for a while in advance, but if you have an opportunity to take it away. Do it. Make sure your husband is home so he can endure the crying with you. Be strong together and don't look back.

Exhausted

The girls are upstairs playing, and what I should be doing is giving them a bath. Or, playing with them, but i'm utterly exhausted.

Work was a typical day, as typical as it can be when traveling between two jobs. Thankfully, my afternoon speech kiddo was rescheduled for tomorrow, and I look forward to the evenings where I have nothing extra after school. It means I can spend time with the girls. But honestly, when we get home on those days, I just crash. I'm trying so hard to get into a routine, and we have good weeks and bad weeks. I think the last two weeks have been bad. (and it's only Tuesday)

I look at my 'to-do' list and it just overwhelms me.

Vacuum the floors, do the laundry, make the beds, dust the furniture, pick up toys, cook dinner, finish up projects at work, start projects at home. Where is all the time in the day?

As I was looking forward to my "off" night, I remembered that the girls and I needed to run to the grocery store. So, there went my "off" night. G pitched a fit, b/c she didn't get the car buggy, then she wanted a cookie. I asked her to stop asking of the cookie, and if she was a good listener, she could have the cookie at the end of our trip. However, she missed the "please stop asking for the cookie" part. Needless to say, she did not receive her cookie. Which, made her pitch a fit the entire drive home. She was sent to her room for crying and arguing in the car.

Thankfully, after her time-out, she cleaned her room, ate a good dinner (pb & j) and went upstairs to read and play.

MC, on the other hand, was great at the store, and had a not so fun time once we got home.

It's either one or the other.

I'm ready for bedtime tonight. I'm ready for DJ to get home. I plan on retreating to my sewing space and working on bows and projects. I have several to ship and several to make, and honestly, I feel like crashing on the sofa, and not getting up until tomorrow. When I get to do it all over again. And, while my list continues to grow because I put things off tonight.

So, mothers, how do you get through your days? What helps you feel as if you are accomplishing something without spinning in circles?

Right now, I feel as if a huge glass of wine will be the only thing that will help :)

Pretty Words = Crazy Hair

If you know G at all, you know that she is so strong willed, stubborn, and loves to argue. (I have no idea where that personality comes from!)

We really have been working on her not arguing with us so much when we ask her to do something, or when we tell her she cannot do something. So, I devised a plan that would hopefully encourage her to not argue with us.

I purchased a Chore Chart at Target in the $1.00 section. We were able to write in our own goals and we decided to start on two. One of them was fairly easy, and included her cleaning up. The other one, was using "pretty words". I didn't want to state it in the negative form, so we came up with "pretty words" rather than no arguing.

At the end of every day, if she did not argue and if she cleaned up when asked, she would earn a sticker. We wrote down our two goals through the bottom of the sticker chart, and counted up that she would have 40 days to earn her reward, which, she chose. We decided that if she could be successful for 35 of the 40 days, we would purchase her toy.

She saw the LaLa Loopsy Silly Hair doll on t.v. and said that she wanted. So, I knew that she would be motivated to improve her behavior in order to earn the toy.

There were a few days that she would miss her 'clean up' sticker and there was one day where she missed both stickers. She still argued, but it was much less than she had previously been doing. I also found that I was able to say, G, you're arguing, and she'd instantly stop. Those were pretty powerful words.

We are going to continue a sticker chart for her behavior. I think i've tried everything in the book, for discipline and positive reinforcement, and a sticker chart continues to be very reinforcing for G. I'll again let her choose her reward, but this time we're going to guide her to something a little less expensive. This doll was $35.00! I had no idea how much it cost when we saw it on t.v., but, it was what was reinforcing at the time. I think we're going to work more towards a movie night at the theatre, trip to the park, or ice cream!

What rewards have you tried for your child? Have you had to purchase something super expensive because it was reinforcing?

The effects of "shut up"

This is the hardest post i've probably written; it's not my usual light-hearted post, but it's something that I wanted to share, as I think, all parents need to face the reality.

DJ and I were tucking G in to bed last night. Her bedtime routine typically consists of getting her pj's on, brushing her teeth, reading a book, and saying one of three prayers. She always gets a choice of what prayer she wants to say. She chooses from, "prayers from the heart", "The Lord's Prayer", or "Now I Lay Me." However, this choice is pretty daunting for a four year old and she has discovered that this is a fabulous way to stall and last night was no exception. Typically, if she does not make a choice DJ or myself makes a choice for her. This was the case last night. As G did not make her choice, I started saying, "Now I Lay Me", and no sooner than did I get through the first line of the prayer, G put her hand over my mouth and said, "Shut up".

I stopped, dead in my tracks. What had just come out of my four year olds mouth? DJ and I looked at each other, and both of us in shock, laughed. Which, was totally the wrong reaction that any parent should have in that situation. After we regained our composure, we explained to G that we shouldn't have laughed, but that we were shocked a word like that would come out of her mouth. We are very careful about what we say around her, and we censor all of her t.v. shows. We told G that "shut up" is a dirty word, and that it is not a word we want her saying. We asked her where she heard the word, and she explained that she heard it on "The Power Puff Girls" while she was playing at our 7 year olds neighbor's house. Obviously, that is not a show that is approved at our house. 

We finished up our conversation, with G, and tucked her in for the night. But, the word, it just stirred in my head and I just couldn't let it go. I decided to take the scenario to one of my mom's group, and bounce some ideas, feelings, and parenting thoughts around with them. For me, it's the best way to think things through and come to a final decision. I need to work through situations. 

So, here's what I've concluded from this discussion:

~ Parenting styles are different. It doesn't matter how much we have in common, there is never a 100% mutual agreement, and this case was no different. From some suggesting that I needed to let go of trying to censor what my child is exposed to, those not allowing their child to play at someone's house if they are not present, and those that disagree with consequences. But, through all of the disagreement, I learned this. Respect. I learned that as we discuss, we can still respect each other's various parenting styles, and I just wish I could come across more moms like those that are in this group. I think that all moms would feel less of a failure and more of a mom if we could all just agree to disagree and not judge. One of the moms brought up that we all judge each other's parenting styles, and that we have to do what is best for our own kids and take it hour by hour. Then, at the end of the day, we can look back on our own success and failures. Another mom admitted, that she struggled daily if she and her husband were making the right decisions. That was exactly what I needed to hear. Because, I think we all struggle every hour if we are making the right decisions. There are just so many parenting decisions to make now, and we all feel the pressures. 

~ DJ and I decided together that for the time being, G cannot play at our neighbor's house. For one thing, their kids are older, therefore their t.v. rules are obviously different than ours. And, I don't feel that it's my right to ask them to change their rules for my child. The kids are more than welcome to come to our house to play. The t.v. has to remain off, because I know they don't want to watch Mickey Mouse, and the play will have to be supervised. The kids are also going to be allowed to play outside together, but our rule will always stand that a parent has to be present. 

~ God has also placed heavily on my heart recently, to "do everything you do to the glory of God". I turned on my pandora the other day, and the first song I heard was about a mom picking up toys off the living room floor for the 15th time today, and the song just continued about how a mom works so hard and feels there is no glory in it. But, that if we have the attitude to do our daily tasks for God, that it changes the entire mood of the person. That is what i'm struggling with right now. I need to do everything for God. I need to put joy into my daily routines. 

~ Throughout the last day, I've also had to decide what my end goal in parenting is. And, this is what i'm struggling to accept right now. I want G to grow up and do amazing things for God. I want her to have a relationship with God, and to be a leader and to do something powerful when she grows up. G is an arguer. Right now, we have a sticker chart in place, for every day that she does not argue with us. As much as I've tried to break her of this, in order for her to respect authority (and that's not just me), I've also tried to embrace it, because that feistiness could be a powerful thing when she's a teenager. I'm also struggling with the most effective parenting strategies to use with her. And, it's constantly changing. This month, the sticker chart has worked wonders. I just have to remind her of the chart, and she instantly stops arguing. But, I have to admit, I've tried everything under the sun when it comes to discipline. And, whens he finally earns the LaLaLoopsy doll that she's wanting, a sticker chart will probably not be effective anymore. 

So, all this to say, "Wow!" Parenting is hard work. I'm so thankful for my supportive, not so strict husband, and my totally reassuring mom that I'm doing a great job. I just wish all of us moms could be supportive of one another. Can, I just challenge y'all, that the next time you're in the grocery store, and you pass a mom looking totally frazzled because her toddler is climbing out of the buggy, could you just give an encouraging nod? Just let her know that you've been there, and that she's doing a great job- even if you'd drag that same kid out of the store and just leave. We all have different parenting styles, but no matter those differences, let's support each other and agree to disagree.

Choosing Childcare: Questions to Ask

I think one of the most daunting tasks as a working mother is to find appropriate childcare for your little one. I was so relieved that I wouldn't have to worry about it with this pregnancy. Gretchen has a wonderful in-home sitter that we've used since she was 7 months old, so I immediately told her that we'd be adding another baby come next August when I planned on going back to work.

Then, we decided to move. So, I'm starting all over again, and let me tell you, it's hard! I remember looking for in-home sitters when I was pregnant with Gretchen and I would cry every time I left someone's house. Until I met Michelle, our current sitter. I knew she'd be 'the one' because I didn't cry leaving her house. Turns out that we actually attend the same church, even though we were not attending there at the time.

While we were in Oklahoma over spring break, I went in and checked out a few of the daycares/preschools that I had found online. I made phone calls before hand, and thanks to the internet I did a lot of research to prepare for my trip. I was able to knock a few out based on price alone. I also crossed a few off the list that didn't have the times I was looking for. I knew that I wanted a place that would have a preschool type curriculum for Gretchen, but that could also keep the baby as well, but I needed to make sure that they had extended hours until 6 and that they were open year-round. I also knew that I wanted to go look at Christian preschools rather than your typical state operated, chain daycare.

I participate in an expecting moms message board, and this topic was brought up a lot at the beginning of our pregnancies. I didn't pay too much attention to the posts because I wouldn't have to worry. I offered to share my list of interview questions with these expecting moms, only to find that I had deleted it off my computer since I wouldn't be looking for childcare.

As part of my pre-planning, I had to type up another list, so I thought I'd share it here, to be an easy reference to any expecting moms, and so I could look back to it as well.

Here's my list of questions for center-based childcare (yes, I have a seperate one for home-based & i'll get to that in a seperate post). Please note that this list is not exhaustive & you may need to add your own individual preferences- for example, we will cloth diaper & make our own baby food, so I need a center that will be okay with that as well.

Interview Questions
· Is there a waiting list & how long is it?
· What is the enrollment fee? · Price for a 3 year old per week? o For 4 days a week? o For 3 days a week?
· Price for a 4 month old per week?
o For 4 days a week?
o For 3 days a week?
· What are your hours?
· What is the holiday schedule?
· What other days are you closed?
· How & when do you bill?
· Do caregivers have 1st aid-CPR and child development training?
· What is the ratio per classroom? o Infants o 3 year olds
· What activities are available for, what is the schedule, what is the curriculum for: o Infants o 3 year olds
· What is your discipline policy?
· Outside playground? How often do kids play outside? At what temperature do kids stay inside?
· Do you take children off-site?
· Can I provide my own meals for the 3 year old?
· How are bottles stored? Breast milk? Baby food? (how is it defrosted) o Can I bring homemade babyfood?
· Can we use cloth diapers, cloth wipes?
· How often are diapers changed, and changing tables disinfected?
· Do children have their own assigned bed & cot for naps?
· Where is food prepared? (observe cleanliness of kitchen)
· What is your sick policy? And, what is your policy for giving medicine?
· Do children watch t.v.?
· Are emergency exits clearly marked?
· Must children be immunized? Flu shots?
· Are the classrooms child proof; outlets? · How often are toys cleaned?
· How are children released?