Divine Providence

I've been wanting to write for awhile how lucky I feel! Not just that I have two beautiful children, although of course they are the biggest gift of all, but about how things always seem to work out. This might seem silly to people who get to stay home with their children, but it is about finding daycare! 

When Isaac was little, I went to the daycare center across the parking lot from our new apartment and asked if they had any openings. They did not, but because I was a student at UO and lived in student family housing, I passed everyone else up and was first on the wait list. This was only a month before school was going to start. Less than a week later, they called me back - someone had cancelled because Dad had got a night shift job, so they did not need childcare. So Isaac got in, and we met Lana and Katie and many other wonderful, loving caregivers. I really liked their Reggio Emilia approach too - it was a perfect fit and its proximity to our house made it easy to stop by often to visit and nurse Isaac. They also moved the caregivers up with the kids to the Wobbler and Toddler rooms so they could keep those attachments.

In January, I realized that sadly, although I had put my name on the wait list, Sonia was not going to get in at the same place. They were full and had a long wait list, and because I was not a student, I would be at the bottom of that list. So, I called the other university child care center. They were also full. Long wait list, maybe-you-can-put-your-name-down-for-the-fall sort of situation. In the process of finding their number, I stumbled across a letter that the director had written, which suggested calling someone at UO who had info on other childcare opportunities in the area. I called the lady and left a message. As I was leaving the message, it occurred to me that I really should instead be consulting my co-workers. I am pretty sure no other group of people in Lane County has the inside scoop on childcare options in Lane County and how they really operate to a greater extent than my very own co-workers. We are there every week. People get comfortable with us. We have a pretty good sense of what goes on and the quality of care. (If you would like to know where I would suggest and not suggest in Springfield, let me know.) So, I sent a quick message to the ecall list serve asking about good infant care options in Eugene. I checked later that day and had several replies. Two of them mentioned the same place, and it was a childcare center, not someone's home. I did not want to have to leave my tiny baby at a stranger's home, so that was excellent. I called, and the person who answered said the director was talking to a parent but she would take a message and have her call me back. About an hour later, I got a call back, and learned, to my surprise, that there were two spots (out of only 8) opening up in their infant room due to kids moving up to the next class, and that these kids were moving up just two weeks before I needed care, and there was only one family on the wait list! I looked online and found that the lead infant teacher was the wife of a guy I worked with. Amazing! Someone I have at least met before! I felt so much better about the situation. We went to check it out the next day and put our deposit down. Meanwhile, I got two or three other emails that mentioned this same place. The chance of me finding a spot in a high-quality childcare center in the middle of the year just two months before I needed it? Not at all likely. The fact that I know the teacher, and it just happens to be close to our community garden plot? Too good to be true. I called one other place someone had mentioned as being good - nope, full too with a huge wait list. Call me crazy, but I attribute it to Divine Providence. The Spirit is looking out for me and these precious babes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.