Daycare or Nanny: which one should I choose?

Raise your hand if you’d never heard of an Au Pair before having kids.

Keep it up if you still don’t know what the heck that is.

Tenor

One of the pain points in finding childcare is figuring out what setting you want use. Prior to having kids, I knew two options: daycare or babysitter. I’d never heard of an Au Pair, didn’t realize there were licensed and unlicensed providers, or in-home daycares, and didn’t know that childcare swap was a thing. Then there are the specific programs and philosophies–Montessori, Waldorf, Head Start, etc. It’s a lot to take in.

Advertisements

7 Fun Ways to Promote Lifelong Learning

Have you ever thought about how much you learn every day?

Whether at work or at home with the kids, I guarantee you are learning a lot.

Psychology and human development from interacting with coworkers and your child dictators. The human body and nutrition from taking care of yourself and your family. New technology from work projects and your kids. Other cultures from clients, neighbors, strangers in the grocery store, students, and your kids’ friends. And yourself as you experience new things.

Even though we are subconsciously learning all the time, it’s important to also be intentional learners.

Learning has benefits to your health, finances, relationships, society at large–and it simply feels good to actively participate in the learning process.

You do not have to go sign up for more college classes to learn, though that’s a huge benefit of community colleges with their cheap tuition! But, you do not need to spend tons on lifelong learning.

Today I’m sharing some of my favorite ways to continue learning at any stage of life, so you can make your brain and mind happy your whole life!

Monday High Five, week 8

A few days ago my husband texted me, “You’re going to have a lot to write about on Monday.”

He wasn’t wrong–what a week! We really had a lot of good times and cute things my kids said, but my main focus last week was on dealing with the aftermath of a car accident. It definitely reminded me of how blessed my life is and how things really work together for our good.

Easy Grilled Veggie Gyro

You know those gifts that you buy your spouse that are really for both of you?

My husband got a grill for Father’s Day.

Oh, hey, husband. Ranker

We’ve wanted a grill for years, but have been doing the apartment thing while we’ve been in school and moving all over the place and usually haven’t been allowed to or had a secure place to leave one. But our current place is great, so we bought an indoor/outdoor Foreman grill. It’s perfect for apartment living: small enough to fit on a porch, big enough to actually grill, and we can bring it inside to put on the countertop if we want.

Monday High Five, week 7

I’m really appreciating the time to focus on the good things that happened each week before. I find myself thinking about it on Sunday nights and by the time I get to my Monday lunch break to write this, my brain is full of so many good things and my heart is happy. Overall, I feel like last week provided some opportunities to be gentle with myself and enjoy being with who I was around.

Monday High Five, week 6

My birthday was yesterday and I turned 31!

Giphy

The year you’re 30 is more like a transition year to get you used to saying something not in the 20’s, but now I’m officially in my 30’s. It’s like I’m a legit woman now, not just a kid pretending to be an adult.

It’s weird, but it’s good.

So in honor of myself, for today’s Monday High Five I’m going to share a few things I’ve learned during the past year in relation to the topics I write about.

Why hiring a sleep consultant was the best money I’ve ever spent

Hiring a sleep consultant was hands down the best thing I’ve ever done for myself in the last seven years.

Marrying my husband, becoming a mother, school, work, travel–all great things, but hiring a sleep consultant still wins.

I realize that’s a bold statement l’lI hear about later, but listen.

Without sleep, I can’t enjoy any of those things. I can deal with not sleeping a night or two with a sick kid, but extended sleep deprivation is miserable.