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ok, so I'm very seriously considering moving to Charlotte from Los Angeles. I'm a single working mother and wondering how in the heck I will manage this! (right now I have help from my son's dad and a live-in nanny.) By the time I move my son will need to be in preschool, and I will be working full-time (probably in uptown). I work in advertising, which doesn't exactly keep to bank hours. Assuming I will have a 30-40 minute commute given traffic (no matter where I live, which MIGHT be Fort Mills), I'm stressing over I will manage working and picking him up from preschool.
1. Do many preschools have extended hours to cater to working parents? After 6 kind of extended hours?
2. Would it be difficult/expensive to find a regular babysitter/nanny that drives and picks him up everyday from preschol and takes him back home and stays with him until I come home from work? What might sitter like this charger per hour in Charlotte? I'm thinking I won't be living by any college, so finding a college student would be rather hard.
3. How much do other mothers in the preschools look out for eachother, in general?
4> Might it be better to find a preschool in uptown (would love a nice Montessori) so I can drive to and from work with him and need less time running over after work to pick him up?
This dilema is the main one holding me back from moving. Can anyone offer any suggestions/ease my worries or SHOULD I be worried making this feasible in Charlotte?
Thanks, all
(and if anyone knows the exact commute time from uptown to Fort Mills during rush hour, I'd love to get a handle on that!!)
You should join CharlotteMommies. It is a free site great for networking and getting information. It is a bunch of local moms that can give you great advice, recommendations and such. I joined LakeNormanMommies when I still lived in Los Angeles and it really helped me out. Good Luck!!!
I would recommend living/working in the same vacinity to help with the stress of work commute with school and daycare. This will help if your child is sick or needs to go home and your not frazzled. People do it, having back up helps too. I never had anyone here except my spouse and it's very stressful.
We do not live in Charlotte so there was an extra 45 minute drive when the baby was sick which made things worse for us. I would advise against it if possible. Good luck it's a tough decision.
As far as people looking out for one another, I think you'd have to be really tight knight for that to happen. For me, if they are not family I would not entrust them with my child. You might find some daycares with second shift daycare slots but it's really unfair to your kid to be in daycare all day then night care. Plus there are limits to how many hours your child can go to daycare perday in NC. You might want a nanny if you have odd hours.
I would come with a job lined up and use a nanny agency, this would be easiest for you. I would not come on a whim, especially when you have another person to think and care about. You can make this work for you, just remember it will be more stressful wlithout the dad around.
You should join CharlotteMommies. It is a free site great for networking and getting information. It is a bunch of local moms that can give you great advice, recommendations and such. I joined LakeNormanMommies when I still lived in Los Angeles and it really helped me out. Good Luck!!!
I agree, Charlottemommies.com is great for getting more information on nannies and daycare plus it's a great support group too.
You should join CharlotteMommies. It is a free site great for networking and getting information. It is a bunch of local moms that can give you great advice, recommendations and such. I joined LakeNormanMommies when I still lived in Los Angeles and it really helped me out. Good Luck!!!
I second Charlotte Mommies. They have been a great resource and they have a subgroup devouted to working moms.
As for daycares, preschools, etc...get on the waitlists NOW, the waits are ridiculous because of how many kids there are there.
There is at least one daycare/preschool in Fort Mill that is open until 6:30 - Kids R Kids. There may be more. It's about a 30 minute commute from uptown to the W side of Fort Mill. I've found the other parents to be very supportive - I can see some turning into good friends. It's a small town atmosphere down here, close to all the conveniences of Charlotte.
On the flip side, I believe Omni Montessori is in Dilworth, close to uptown. You'd only be 5-10 minutes from picking him up.
Good luck! We recently moved, too, and concerns with the kids were our foremost issues, as well.
1. Do many preschools have extended hours to cater to working parents? After 6 kind of extended hours?
Most childcare centers/preschools are open until 6:30...i am not familiar with any that stay open later than that. And arriving later than the 6:30 cut off is not appreciated by the staff, so if this is something that might happen occasionally, this may not be your best option unless you can arrange for someone to pick your child up for you.
2. Would it be difficult/expensive to find a regular babysitter/nanny that drives and picks him up everyday from preschol and takes him back home and stays with him until I come home from work? What might sitter like this charger per hour in Charlotte? I'm thinking I won't be living by any college, so finding a college student would be rather hard.
I think if you put what you need on craigslist, you may find the right person for the job. I am a grad student, have worked in childcare for a few years, and I babysit often and the going rate seems to be $10/hour. For a more regular job, the rate can go down slightly. Don't rule out not being able to get a college student because you don't live near the uiviersity. Many students commute from all over Charlotte. I go to UNCC and I live in Ballantyne.
3. How much do other mothers in the preschools look out for eachother, in general?
I'm not sure what you mean by look out for each other. There are parents in my classroom that are friendly with each other at drop-off/pick-up when they see each other, but very few of them are friends outside the center. I have never seen parent pick up someone else's child as a favor or anything like that, if that's what you mean.
4> Might it be better to find a preschool in uptown (would love a nice Montessori) so I can drive to and from work with him and need less time running over after work to pick him up?
I think finding a center near your job would be ideal. I especially recommend this because if there is an emergency, you are going to want to be able to get to your child ASAP. Plus, its a good idea to "drop in" unannounced to your child's class and check up on things. I don't care how much $$$ parents pay every week...you have no idea what goes on in your child's classroom when you are not there, and popping in once and a while will give you a better idea of how things are actually run and how your child likes his class (NOT just what the "teachers" tell you).
My recommendation is to find a center that you feel absolutely comfortable with near your job. Once your child is enrolled, you can ask around to find out who babysits (many places do not allow babysitting by teachers, but MANY teachers babysit anyway and the administration pretend they don't know about it because its hard to control what goes on outside the center). Once you find someone you are comfortable with babysitting your child, you can ask them about rates and if they are comfortable driving with your child from the center and to your house.
Hi my name is kristyn and i actually live in fort mill. I do in home care so feel free to email me at kristynedley@yahoo.com i would probably be able to help you and your son out.
I can speak to the later part...re: Montessori schools near uptown.
Firstly, Park Road Montessori is probably only about 5 miles from uptown, just past the main hospital (CMC). It is a public montessori school that starts at age 4 (age as of Oct. 16 of the school year entering). They do indeed offer afterschool care...off site until kinder. then onsite from kind.-5th grade. They also have before school care.
I think also that Charlotte Prep. is a montessori school in the younger years, then transitions to a more traditional school. I think the younger years montessori part is on East Blvd., also near uptown.
These are the only one's I can think of. Beware that the public one is via lottery and VERY hard to get into.
There is also a Motessori school up in NoDa, only a few minutes north of uptown as well as one in Chantilly, just east of uptown. Those and the others that have already been mentioned would all be convenient to uptown, though I cannot speak to the quality of each, nor to what their enrollment requirements are.
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Montessori Pre-schools
