@Karissa- thanks so much! I really appreciate your support — and yes, people find me different ways. Then often go back to the beginning to read 168 Hours!

Second the congrats on making that list. I’ve read 5 of the 15 listed, but never found myself googling the others, buying their books as gifts on a number of occasions, or following their blog religiously like I have your work for a few years now (though, in full disclosure, I first found you through “I Know How She Does It” then went back and bought and read 168 Hours).

@Mimi- thanks so much! And so glad you enjoyed All the Money in the World. Please tell people about it 🙂

I fourth that. My boys are now 22, 19 and 19 but I would do that sometimes. There’s a lot to be said for sanity.

1. Don’t be in a rush to switch to a “real preschool” – often they have more holidays and less flexibility in hours. With our fall birthday kids, we’d have been fine leaving them in daycare until 3.5 or 4.
2. No solution is ever perfect. Every single one will have *something* you don’t like about it so choose your battles.
3. It’s ok to send the kid to daycare and take the day off (echoing comment above).
4. Toddler daycare is a magical thing – my girls learned SO MANY skills I had no idea they were capable of at age 1, like putting on their own coats, cleaning up after themselves at meal time, putting toys away. It also got my more reluctant talker speaking and my non-mobile child crawling 🙂 Oh and they were 100% responsible for potty training my second and it was a breeze. I wasn’t ready, but they thought she was, so they just did it :O
5. Pick a daycare close to work if you’re still breastfeeding, or close to home otherwise so you can still send them if you don’t go to work that day (like when you’re sick).
6. Try not to pick a daycare that is only convenient for one parent to pick up/drop off. It was really valuable to be able to share the load, or stay for a late meeting, etc.
7. Do not make your life more complicated by choosing a preschool that requires potty training if your kid isn’t there yet, effectively giving yourself a “deadline”. It probably works for some people, but wow did it not work for my stubborn kid/me.
8. Daycare teachers will often babysit at night! Some centers might have rules, so it’s best to ask, but ours were fine with it. My girls were thrilled when their teachers came to our house.