I thought we had this whole day care thing kinda together, I guess that was my mistake because it seems to all be unraveling.
We had decided to send Kaelynn to the Cole Academy because I really liked the one on one attention and the stages of development that they focused on.
Unfortunately, this place is about $1600 a MONTH for Kaelynn's age group. There is no way that we can afford that. Honestly, that's more than I bring home a month.
The people at the Cole Academy told us about Arbor Childcare Connections, which is a government subsidized organization that helps people pay for childcare. They told us that a lot of the people who send their children to the Cole Academy get money from Arbor. They even mentioned that some of them almost get a full ride. Since I figured we were in a similar financial situation, I thought, awesome! I have no problem paying even $500 a month for her child care.
So after a while I finally get a hold of the Arbor people. They send me an application & I send it back with all of the necessary paperwork. Then I get a call for a phone interview; the lady seems really optimistic. We are approved! But she doesn't know for how much. But now, I'm feeling really good. I feel like this whole childcare thing is taken care of and I don't have to stress about it or about going back to work and not having somewhere to send her.
Of course, we are trying to scramble to put together the deposit (of which Arbor doesn't cover). It's a lot of money, but we are going to make it work.
Then I get the letter back in the mail from Arbor. I thought I just didn't understand it. I thought maybe it might be a typo, but the paper says that we are going to get $119 a MONTH to cover our childcare. Wait a minute, $119? Seriously? That's not even 10% of the cost! I am so confused! I call the Arbor case worker, and leave a message. I call the next day, and leave a message. I've had to call 4 times already, 4 messages left. Why won't they call me back and EXPLAIN this to me! I don't know what is up.
We were going to just pay the deposit to the Cole Academy and if I pay before Aug. 15th, I can have my first month half off, so we figured that we were covered until at least September. Then Corey found out today that the deposit covers THE LAST month of service & not the FIRST month, so we have to somehow come up with $3000 and not $1600 for her to go for two months! I don't know how people do it. It seems like this Cole Academy is even more expensive than MY school, which is pretty dang expensive! I wish we just had a daycare at work. There is a preschool at Chaminade, but it's for 2 years & up. The biggest problem is that Kaelynn is so young & the younger that you are, the more expensive you are.
And to make matters worse, the Cole Academy people called me today and said that Arbor sent them a check for $119 and are we going to come up with the rest of it? And I said that I was trying to find out from Arbor how much they were going to pay each month and the Cole Academy lady said that she thought it was just going to be $119 and I told her if that was the case, then we couldn't afford to send her there. And she said give her a call when I hear from the Arbor people.
And now I'm like distraught and I don't know what to say to the Arbor people without sounding distraught. Why so little bit? How are we supposed to pay for this on our own?
And what if that is it? No mistake, $119 a month? What are we going to do with Kaelynn?? I go back to work next week!
Now I have to find another place to send her? I don't know anyone who watches kids, especially children as young as her. I don't have time to interview all of these care takers. I don't know what to say to the Arbor people. How do I explain our situation in any different way? I wish someone else could just call them and figure out what the problem is. How did they come up with that magic number? How do I contest the amount?
I am feeling extremely overwhelmed with all of this. :(
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