Day Care

I have started looking around for information on daycare/childcare. My maternity leave ends in August 2009 and it may be a bit late for me because there’s a long wait list for most group daycares. Time is passing by very quickly.

The only choice I have is either be a stay-at-home mom or go to work if I get a childcare spot for little Brandon. My main choice is to go with the group childcare at the centre. My parents are retired, but there is a problem. My dad doesn’t have the patience to look after kids. Don’t get me wrong about him not liking kids. He loves little Brandon, but like I said… he doesn’t have the patience and he’s very tempered easily. On the other hand, my mom is fine with anything. My mom actually gave me an idea: if there’s no daycare available by July/August, I can look for a babysitter temporarily till my spot on the waitlist becomes available.

I’ve recently contacted to just a few licensed group childcare and registered my name to be on the wait list. Expected fees I am looking at is between $900 and $1200 per month. Yikes! Also, I was told that license childcare is income tax deductible under “childcare expenses”, so hope this will help me and my family a bit.

For more information on choosing child care, visit the website at http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/childcare/parents.htm to obtain a copy of The Parent’s Guide to Selecting Child Care.

Here’s a list of useful links with resources for those in Canada and the Greater Vancouver, BC area:

http://www.childcareresource.ca

http://www.wstcoast.org

http://www.childcarechoices.ca

http://www.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/socialplanning/initiatives/childcare/cccentres.htm

http://www.canadachildcaredirectory.com

http://www.godaycare.com

http://childcareinfo.gov.bc.ca/childcaresearch/search.aspx

http://www.childcentre.ca