Baby Shangri-La

It looks like we found a daycare for when Katrina goes back to work. Alina will be 7 months old this week and will probably start school around Thanksgiving. While looking, there were a few prerequisites. It had to be open after 6pm, accept babies Alina's age, be near one of our jobs, do more than just watch them stare at the wall, and of course have an open slot. This place we found is pretty kickass but it's like giving a Mercedes to an 8-year old. They learn to read and write, learn about science, plant thier own gardens, have lots of time in the backyard with slides, swings, and sandboxes, learn about cooking, and the whole place is run by a retired nurse with a staff of early childhood development majors. Open 7am-7pm (Woo!), 10 minutes from Katrina's work (Yay!), and already took my deposit (Shit!). Yeah, this place costs almost as much as my rent. And I don't think Alina will truly be able to absorb the benefits of this place for a little while yet. But it's really the best place ever. There are kids there up to 5 years old and every graduating class ends up skipping kindergarten (Brakes!) Hmmm, do we really want that? Will she be bored and destructive and outsmarting her teachers if we don't let her skip? It's not like I want her freshmen year of college to get any closer. Some have told me it's easier for girls to be younger, but they were all male. So that's a skewed focus group. I suppose we'll have to see for ourselves. She may just have to eat paste like the other kids.