What it comes down to.

I have been trying to find childcare for oh about a month now. Evan's grandmas have been doing a fine job keeping him this summer, but alas, summer is over and Eric's mom is back to school and my mom is back to work. Its very hard to come to a decision to have someone else watch your kid.
I checked out a local daycare center or two. As the lady stood there talking to me while a baby sat and cried in a highchair, I knew it was not for me. Plus they charged too much for the poor care they provided. I decided to look into home daycare.
Originally, I had found a nice DCFS certified home daycare that was close to my work. Everything was neat and orderly. She knew her stuff but could only keep Evan 3 days a week and ultimately made the decision to not keep him at all.
I turned off my search for a while. Until about 2 weeks ago. I turned to my trusty friend craigslist to see what was in the area. Craigslist has never steered me wrong before. And I have a healthy gut instinct with the internet. I looked for over a month to find an apartment because my gut kept saying no.
My first appointment from craigslist turned out to be wrong in my gut. The lady was nice but where she kept the kids was not so nice. Her home was clean but her couch was right by the stairs which is no good for a climber like Evan. She also was not attentive and considered lemonade as a good snack. She had weird parenting ideas like the old notion that sugar makes kids nuts. She also had an obese 5 year old which made me question what she would actually feed my kid.
I went back to craiglist that day and replied to as many posts as I could to see who would respond. I got a few emails back and a few wanted me to drive 30 minutes out of my way. Extra hour away from my baby each day? No thanks. One woman called me that day. I was so happy to get a human response right away. She was so nice and understanding. She has 2 children, including a 2 month baby. Anyone who has the patience to care for a needy toddler and a new baby is someone quite special. I met her last week. At a park. Her husband is also cautiously aware of freaks and weirdos from the internet. She also checked me out on FB and I checked her out on sittercity. Our interview went well. She is attentive and hands on. She feeds her older child well. AND she breastfeeds and cloth diapers. Its hard to find someone in the south suburbs that shares the same values as I do. She is caring and gentle and Evan liked her. And she is only 3 minutes from my job.
I also checked out one more home daycare that was referred to me by Eric's family. I met a very nice caring lady who loved her family and had a lovely home. She had a whole basement set up as a daycare and she really loved what she does. She was patient and kind, and was really all about the children. It came down to one thing. I prefer Evan to eat fresh fruit and have yogurt as a snack just about everyday. She doesn't keep fresh fruit around, and she serves pop tarts for breakfast. Someday Evan will get pop tarts, but now its not the time. She also serves Salisbury steak quite often. Do you know how much salt is in that?
In the end, I went with my gut and chose the woman with similar values as me. I hope it goes well.