Matt and I took yesterday off from work so that we could scout the local daycare centers. (The other option was visiting each immediately after work, one a day, which didn't really appeal to us.) From the seven or eight daycare centers listed in the phone book, I'd already eliminated several, for various reasons, leaving us with four viable candidates.

As our response has been to everyone who asked how it went... None of the four actually sent us screaming back out the door.

There was one we both really wanted to like. It's very close to where I work, which would make it easy for me to go in for lunchtime feedings, as well as be close to hand for any emergencies that might arise.

Additionally, it's a branch of the same daycare/private school that I attended, right up through first grade, now run by the daughter of the woman who'd administrated my school. I didn't learn until much later how educationally advanced they were - but by the time I started second grade, I could do basic multiplication and division, and write in cursive, skills which were re-taught to me in second and third grade - at an advanced private school.

So we really wanted to like that place. And like I said, it didn't send us screaming or anything... But though they assured us that everything was kept very sanitary, it looked a little dingy. And it was... How shall I put this? It was kind of Jesusified. The woman on duty in the nursery was playing soft gospel music. And the older kids, practicing their little musical show, were singing a pretty high volume of I-Love-Jesus songs.

I don't remember if there was much religious focus when I was there, but... Religion in schools bothers me, unless it's a comparative, strictly factual, "this is what these people believe" kind of approach. I think religious indoctrination is something that should be taught at home, by the parents, or at the worship center of the parents' choosing.

(More firmly, I believe that every person should be exposed to many different religions and beliefs, and allowed to choose from among them - but it's not a decision you want to leave in the hands of a small child, who doesn't quite have the intellectual capacity to understand that, for example, Jesus and Santa Claus belong to different orders of Invisible People.)

So the first place lost a few points with us for that.

The second place was with reasonable driving distance from my office, but I'm afraid they didn't exactly get the best first impression, as their air conditioning had broken, so they had fans all over, and wires running everywhere, and everyone was hot and tired, so it was hard to get a feel for the caretakers' enthusiasm for the job.

The third place managed to impress us despite the fact that they were without any power. It was bright and clean and well-organized. Despite the heat, two caretakers were in the well-padded play-area with a half-dozen babies, holding them and talking to them. Two more caretakers were in another area, watching over a few sleepy infants.

The administrator, despite frantically trying to contact parents to tell them the power outage was shutting down the school for the day, managed to squeeze in a very abbreviated tour and assured us that she would be thrilled to answer our questions in more detail if we wanted to come back or call back another day. The educational curriculum she outlined sounded very progressive and started in the infant room with developmental toys and play equipment.

Unfortunately, of the three centers, that one was the least convenient for either Matt or I. And the most expensive. (Only by about $10 a week, but when you're looking at $150 a week, every little bit adds up...)

The last one turned out to have been a recently-acquired branch of the third, with the same general policies and practices. But that center is only about a mile from where Matt works, which makes it much more convenient for us - I still wouldn't be able to go in to nurse at lunch, but at least Matt would be able to go in and bottle-feed.

So I think we're leaning toward that one, at the moment. Though it was a smaller facility than the third, so they have fewer openings, and their policies won't allow them to "hold" a place for us for more than a couple of weeks. So if they don't have an opening around the middle of September, when we call to register, we'll have to pick one of the other places for the short-term.

I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning. I'll be having one of those every week, now, until the baby comes. What fun...

But since it was Doctor Day, I wore my doctor-visiting dress, and had Matt take a picture. It's been a while since I posted my progression in all its glory, and I'm quite a bit bigger than I was at the last one in May, so I put together another one for your amusement.

Enjoy!

--Liz