Why I'm staying home this year...

When I originally thought I'd be going back to work after my 3-month materntiy leave was up, Canetto (aka "Captain Spreadsheet") researched day care, nanny services and some other childcare options for us. I think #10 below sealed the deal for me to stay home. I'm a firm believer in providing perks and incentives to employees, but I'm just not going to let my husband "take care of the business end of the nanny"

Canetto's e-mail to me on the subject is below:

I contacted a nanny service (see link below). Here is the deal.

1. Live out nannies $2900 placement fee, full refund/credit within 3 months if does not work out. fractional refund after that within 1st year.
2. after 1 year if new nanny is needed for any reason(her or us) then need to pay another $2900 fee. (Sucks!) She did say that it is preferred by all that the nanny relationship goes for years. this is their goal
3. nannies are from many different places: other countries as well as domestic. (Ghana, Spain, etc...)
4. they must be legal and speak English
5. it would take about 4-8 weeks to get a matching nanny
6. the level of certification varies and, thusly, so does the price
7. hourly rate is between $12 to $15 per hour. ($25Kto $38K depending on rate and # of hours worked per week)
8. they work between 40 and 55 hours per week
9. it is possible to find another family with infant to help pay for nanny (can nanny share) She said that nannies sometimes prefer this since they can make a little more money this way.
10. we would need to take care of the taxes and business end of the nanny
11. I started updating the monthly costs spreadsheet to include the various day care options. Let me knowwhen you would like to review.
http://www.metropolitannannies.com/

GaGa GaGa Hey

My baby -- is she the cutest?

Goin' Pantsless

In the early days of Avery (I can say that now becuase she's SIX MONTHS OLD THIS WEEK -- HOLY CRAP!), my friend, Media Goddess Stacey Kane, sent an e-mail that said something about, "I know little Miss Avery Pants is keeping you busy...". For some reason, that one e-mail caused us to being referring to Avery as "Avery Pants", "The Pants", and sometimes, simply "Pants."

A couple of weeks ago, Canetto and I were talking on the phone about going to watch the Mason game at a sports bar and he said to me, "Should we go with or without Pants"? Best part? He was at work at the time.