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1.4 miles = infinite headaches

August 23rd, 2015 at 09:17 pm

We're still going around in circles on the question of after-school care for the kindergartner. Or rather, transportation to the after-school care. Although I suppose we should also be looking at alternatives to our chosen after-school care as well.

So basically, the school won't bus to our kids' daycare, 1.4 miles away. It's out of their zone, which goes for 2+ miles in the other direction but only about .6 miles in the direction of daycare.

We've already signed a contract with our current provider; $320 per month for after school on school days, as well as school closure days that the daycare is open. (Daycare is open a lot more than school is.)

The school has an after-school and non-school day program that supposedly doesn't fill up, so it's a possibility. $13.05 per day for after-school; $42.20 per day for non-school days. So cost-wise, it would end up similar to daycare; a bit cheaper in months with no school closures, more expensive in months with school closures.

The daycare lady is very willing to work with us, even though she doesn't have a car. Her sister lives close to the school and she mentioned having AA bus there, then the daycare lady or husband could come get her. My daycare lady may charge extra for this service as it would take away from her normal daycare activity.

AS works from home M, W & F this fall, and all days once the class she's teaching is over (assuming she doesn't do it for spring semester). However, she really WORKS and has a profitable business, and I know she gets a great deal done in the afternoons. And I know our kid doesn't like to play alone, so it would be mean to bring her home only to ignore her. Or, if she picked AA up at school and took her to daycare on the bus and came home, she'd lose about an hour of productive time, because that round trip takes about that much time on buses. And again, that would only work on days she wasn't teaching.

A daily taxi from daycare lady's sister to daycare would cost $7-$7.50 per trip including tip. Not sure how I feel about AA being in a taxi alone, but I don't think it's high-risk. Don't know how taxi companies feel about a kid traveling alone.

An ideal situation for me, if I could find it, would be to have another school parent who's driving in that direction anyway drop AA off. I feel that it would be reasonable to pay $5 a day for the 5-10 minutes it would take out of their day. $100 per month (about) would only take our total cost to $420 per month, less than we pay for full-time daycare. I reached out to the PTO head, but she hasn't been able to find someone. I wonder if I can ask the kindergarten teacher to ask around.

Yet another option worth considering: could we negotiate a different contract with the daycare lady, where she covers school closures and summer vacation, but AA does after-school care at the kindergarten on regular school days? I don't know if she'd be up for that, but she might. I'd really like AA to still go there as much as possible, and on non-school days, it would be ideal to drop off and pick up both kids at the same place vs. having two trips for no good reason. Plus, she really loves the daycare and all the kids that go there (including her sister).

For next week, if we haven't found a permanent workable solution yet, we're looking at maybe having a friend pick her up the first day and take her to daycare, or NT might be able to get off work early that day. AS could pick her up the second day, and one of our downstairs neighbors could possibly get her Friday. So if I hear confirmation from the friend and the neighbor, we might have a stopgap solution for the first week, which could buy us more time to figure it out.

Who knew it could be so complicated to figure out how to transport one person for 1.4 miles a day?

6 Responses to “1.4 miles = infinite headaches”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1440363939

    The daycare lady must be outside the school boundaries. Although it seems easy to go an extra .8 miles, it is likely a liability from their insurance stand point. I doubt you will get the school to change their plan.

    I personally wouldn't put my child in a taxi not knowing anything about the driver. I'd definitely inquire with your daycare lady if she is willing to change the contract. It's either yes or no, you just need to know which it is.

  2. ThriftoRama Says:
    1440378384

    Um... This seems way too complicated. With kids, especially little ones, it's always best to opt for the simplest plan. If there is wrap around care at school, use that. Then, munchkin can just walk from the classroom to the after-school care room. No taxis, no making a stop at a strangers house then waiting for the daycare lady. The other advantage of the school program is she'll be in there with kids she goes to school with.

    Make a deal with the daycare lady to cover school vacations, and then use the school wrap-around plan. It's the easiest way.

    We've had to rejigger our childcare multiple times over the years, as the kids have grown and the schools have changed. Complicated arrangements with too many working parts always go wrong. You don't need anything extra to worry about every day. Just keep it simple!

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1440385735

    I'd think you could work something out with other parents, as you get to know them. Everyone here is so broke that is what they do. & I think it's nice you would offer to pay. (I am astounded by how rude and entitled people are. It's one thing when it's on the way anyway, but almost strangers have had my dh pick up and watch their kids because they were so desperate for free childcare). There are no buses here so carpooling is common and often one-sided. You can also hire a "child delivery" service, but that may be more common here with the lack of busing. (I can't think of what it's called or what you would look up, but I've seen transport services). OF course, surely you can find someone by word of mouth who needs a few bucks and could offer the service just for your kid.

  4. ceejay74 Says:
    1440386100

    Thanks guys. AS said she would take AA to daycare the days she's not teaching, and just work at a coffee shop nearby. We went ahead and signed up for the school's after school care for Tuesdays and Thursdays (the days AS teaches).

    Although there were nonrefundable fees for signing up, it doesn't look like there's a fee or penalty for canceling as long as you give two weeks' notice. So it's good to have this in place, but it's not a long-term financial commitment if we find a better option at some point. (Which is good, because if no other option does come up, AS will be able to drop her at daycare 5 days a week once the teaching gig ends [January].)

    MM, I'm really hoping to find a nice parent who can do this for us and could use a few bucks. It would be the same cost to pay someone $5 a day to transport her 5 days a week, as it will to have her in 2 days of school after-school care at $13 per day. So it won't make any difference in cost, but AS won't have that obligation interrupting the end of her work day.

    I looked and looked for a child-transport service. I found one in St. Cloud (another city) and mentions of ones in NYC (of course). But nothing in Minneapolis that I could find.

  5. Anderson Smith Says:
    1440434948

    Hey man are you sure your looking at all the possible options? i had a similar problem with my kids when i lived in North Carolina. I asked around and found that looking after school programs is a better option. See if there are recreation centers near there schools where they can play sports. If not look up other programs that may help (taekwondoe,swimming,arts ect...) theres countless activities they can do after school that would be cheaper and more fun than day care! hope you find a good solution ceejay keep us posted.

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1440465822

    Glad you found at least a temporary solution!

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