daycare « Struggling to Thrive

I was keeping up with everything. The laundry was washed, blog posts were getting written, and the house was clean. Looking at my blog, you might think I vanished into thin air. Those who followed me regularly were left scratching their heads, “what happened in June 2017?” I never forgot about the blog, or all of my readers. In fact, I missed you dearly. It’s time to share what brought me to a place I couldn’t post for a year.

Our son was doing well. All of his medical appointments were three to six month follow ups and keeping up with the house just wasn’t a challenge any longer. We found a daycare about ten minutes away willing to take a child with a feeding tube for four hours three times a week. They reassured us they were comfortable running his tube feeds, they had done it before for other children, and that they were able to give him the attention he needed. We had a plan and it was as solid as such a plan could be. With that, I took a part time job close to home. The arrangement was I would be in the office while my son was in daycare and work from home for the rest. I couldn’t have asked for a more flexible work arrangement.

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It may sound like a bad idea to add another responsibility on top of an already agonizing workload. After all, managing a household is certainly plenty of work. Fortunately, many modern day conveniences allow for a household to still run well without sunup to sundown backbreaking labor. On top of that, many things people consider hobbies can be considered work if you’re good at them. Photography, painting, and writing are all legitimate careers. Is it going to pay your bills? Probably not, however if you enjoy your “work” then any money which comes from it is simply a bonus. Instead of a job it’s a break from the monotony.

Is your child able to be taken care of by someone else for the same, or less, money than you would make working full or part time from home? If so you can work from home and be available for any emergencies which might come up. For example, my son’s feeding tube is the only thing a babysitter would encounter over an eight hour period. With a weeks worth of training, someone could easily learn to do that.

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