Daddy Dan

• We decided to go with the first babysitter we interviewed.  My wife and I are both very comfortable with her, and Babito seems to really like her (and her toy-filled house) too.  It’s nice to have that burden off of us.
• My wife is heading for a girl’s weekend out tomorrow morning.  She’s going to Palm Springs with her two best friends.  The Babito and I plan on partying hard all weekend.  It should be wild.  Our first stop tomorrow:  Disneyland, of course.
• My wife’s nephew, Jonathan, is heading back to Iraq on Monday.  Please say a prayer that he’ll remain safe while he’s gone.  We got to speak with him tonight, got his mailing address, and plan on keeping him stocked up with care packages.
• Have a great weekend everybody.

My wife has done extensive research into what to look for in an excellent babysitter/day care provider.  I know she did a thorough job because I sat through a 90-minute interview with her last night.  As I mentioned before, we have a second interview tonight, so I decided I’d do a little Googling to see if I could find some questions that she somehow missed.

Here are some of the questions my wife asked:

1. What is your policy regarding sick kids?
2. What is your discipline policy?  (We prefer the “time out.”)
3. What types of meals and snacks do you serve?
4. What are your security/safety policies?
5. Are you licensed?
6. How many years experience do you have?
7. Can you provide references?
8. Do you trained in first aid and CPR?
9. What is the policy when a child is ill or injured?
10. Are children ever transported in a vehicle while in your care?
11. Do you smoke?
12. Are there guns in the house?  If so, are they secured?
13. Are you willing to assist in toilet training?
14. What is your policy on late pickup?
15. What are the ages of the other children?
16. How long have your current children been with you?
17. What is your vacation policy?
18. Please describe a typical day.
19. Is there a place for children to play outside?
20. What is your educational background?

Here’s some new ones I found:

1. What is your overall child care philosophy?
2. Can I visit/observe my child whenever I like?
3. What do you expect from me as a parent?
4. What is your educational philosophy?
5. Why did you start your day-care business?

Apparently, my wife has done her research.

We’ve had some challenges here in Babitoland this week.

There was the earthquake, which I’ve spoken about already.

Another earthquake hit us personally on Monday.  When my wife went to pick up Babito at his babysitter’s house, she gave us her two week’s notice.  She’s going back into the working world.  Babito has been going to this particular sitter for a little over a year, and he’s really comfortable and happy there.  Now he’s going to have to adjust to a new sitter, with new kids, new rules, etc.  I hope things go smoothly for him.

I also dread having to search for a new babysitter.  We started our search tonight.  We had an interview with a potential sitter at her house.  The babysitting setup is fantastic.  The entire downstairs is devoted solely to the kids.  There are toys galore and Babito had a great time playing with them all while we sat down and chatted with the babysitter.  She seems very devoted to the job (she’s been doing it for 16 years) and she says this is her calling and she plans on doing it until the day she dies.  She seemed to make it through the gamut of questions my wife had for her.  

Babito seemed abnormally comfortable with her.  Typically he’s somewhat shy around people he doesn’t know, but he warmed up to her almost immediately.  He actually cried when we were leaving.  He wanted to stay!  I’m hoping that’s a good sign.

We have another interview tomorrow night, but we’re already leaning heavily towards this first one.  She has detailed plans laid out for the kids, she makes all of their meals from scratch, she works with them all and teaches them phonics, etc.  She seems very organized.  Plus, she also has a Parents Night Out once a month, where she watches the kids on a Friday evening at no additional charge.  That’s a nice little bonus.

It’s always hard to trust yourself when making a big decision like this.  The Babito will be spending a large amount of his waking hours with the person we select, so we have to be certain we go with someone that we (and Babito) feel comfortable with.  My wife is going to dig into her background tomorrow.

I really hope we can get things worked out quickly….and we make a good decision. 

Another Wednesday, another list of the best blog posts of the week:

• Stefanie at Baby on Bored talks about how anxiety deterred her from completely bonding with her newborn in “Public Enemy #1 - Anxiety”
• Rebecca at Girl’s Gone Child discusses how her baby has too quickly become a little boy in “Searching For The Baby in The Boy”
• Chag at Cynical Dad lists the top five celebrity siblings he wouldn’t want to be in “Sibling Rivalry”
• Danny at Dad Gone Mad talks about the tough decision to euthanize a beloved pet in “Not Yet, But Soon”
• Michelle at Michelle & The City shares her guidelines for breaking it off with a guy in “I’m Not Gonna Write You A Love Song”

I left work early today because I really wanted to see the Babito.

When I got home I asked him if he felt the earthquake.  He said yes and then shook his upper body from side to side and said “shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.” 

Apparently he was about half an hour into his nap when the earthquake struck.  The babysitter said he sat up from his bed, looked around, and started screaming.  Poor Babito.  My wife arrived about 15 minutes later to pick him up.  She was worried when she couldn’t get through to the babysitter and rushed over.  Babito was still crying when she arrived but stopped as soon as he saw her.

I had him bathed and in bed by 7:30 today.  He was tired after his scary day. It’s days like this that just reaffirm how deep my love is for both Babito and my wife, and how we should never take anything in life for granted.  Thank God no one was killed or seriously injured. 

As you’ve probably all heard, we had a major earthquake here in Southern California around 11:45 today.  I was on my way to lunch with co-workers and we didn’t even feel it.  My friend’s husband called her and told we’d had an earthquake and it was centered in Chino Hills, which is very close to where my wife works and where Babito goes to daycare.

As you can imagine, cell phone service was non-existant and I couldn’t get through to my wife or the daycare.  I tried constantly for nearly an hour until I finally got a voicemail from my wife saying that she was ok and she had just picked up Babito.  Thank God they were both ok. 

The worst part was not knowing.  Also, when we arrived back at work (we skipped lunch of course) our building was evacuated and I couldn’t get in to get my car keys until now. 

I can’t wait to get home and hug them both.  I hope everyone else is ok.

I’m putting together a slideshow of pictures of Babito’s 2nd Year for his birthday, but I’m having some issues finding songs.

I’m looking for songs that demonstrate love, affection, parenthood, etc. that would be appropriate.

So far I have:
“My Wish” by Rascal Flatts
“When You Wish Upon A Star” by Glenn Miller 

That’s all I have.  Please suggest some others……Thanks!