Pre-School

Okay, so as you may or may not know Mrs. Nuts went back to work this week after a 2 year break. The good news is that she got her old job back and thanks to a recent corporate realignment she's now getting 50% more than she was when she quit... and she's telecommuting full time. Very good deal for us as we live almost 2 hours from downtown San Francisco (where her company is).

Of course this means that we had to hire a Nanny (I am very anti-day care). In January I'd like to try out Montessori or another pre-K school. Do any of you guys have experience sending your kids off to pre-K? Montessori?

By the way, in 2 weeks we are going to put an offer in on our very first house. Yes, I realize that I'm 35 and have never owned a house but in California is tougher than nails to move into the home ownership bit. HERE is the house we are looking at. And yes, it comes with the pool table and art work.

my god man, half a million for a house with 1941 sq feet? I will never live in Cali again. Thats nuts :P

How much you paying for the nanny? Weekly, monthly? I am VERY anti day care myself..

Good god I thought houses were expensive here....

Having no kids, I don't have much first person experience with nannies or day care to share, but I have a coworker who did the nanny route rather than day care, and absolutely loves it. The nanny keeps 2-3 children in her own home, and I think the only complaint they have had is that when the nanny needs a day off or takes vacation, they are stuck without anyone to keep the kid.

I went to preschool, and apparently I liked it. That's all I got on that topic...lol.

I was raised by wolves until the age of five. Seemed to work OK for me.

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Originally Posted by [AK]FiGHT*CLuB

How much you paying for the nanny? Weekly, monthly? I am VERY anti day care myself..

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We did day-care when Nuts Jr was 4 months old. I lasted 3 days before I pulled him out. And this was at a lady's house with just 3 other kids. No friggin way would I do that again.

We next hired a 21yr old blond Slovakian girl that watched Jr while the wife telecommuted for about 8 months. At that age, (infant) you don't need to be highly skilled... just loving and attentive. However, about 50% of my wife's pay was going to the Nanny. ARG

Now with a 3 year old and a 1 year old we needed someone with child development skills and that wouldn't just baby-sit but actually help raise our kids. It was a tough call but the added income gives us so much more room in our budget so that we can live a bit easier and stock away more in retirement.

Our nanny pulls in $1600 a month (under the table, wink-wink). We looked into day-care again but I didn't want my kids to be second place to anyone and for two kids the price was almost the same. We've considered a live-in Nanny as the price is a bit lower but if I can't walk downstairs and drink OJ from the carton in the nude... forget it.

It's still a tough call; one that my wife and I disagree with. But I've conceded this one and so far think that the Nanny is doing good. (Jr is now saying 'Excuse me' after burping!)

P.S. if you're willing to relocate I know a great job.

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Originally Posted by [AK]Nuts

P.S. if you're willing to relocate I know a great job.

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Do Tell! I am always open for options... pm me

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Originally Posted by [AK]Nuts

but if I can't walk downstairs and drink OJ from the carton in the nude... forget it.

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Hire the right nanny and this shouldn't be a problem. If you hire fight club as your nanny and do this though....

500,000 isn't much at all for a house on on either coast.

Our daughter just finished her run of day care. She loved it and we were very happy with the results. I think the social aspect is vital, and she's ahead of many of her peers in kindergarten.

As with everything, you have to be "choosey", but there are good ones out there.

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Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly

500,000 isn't much at all for a house on on either coast.

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It depends on your area. You can get alot of house for $500,000 in certain areas of the Lehigh Valley. And it won't be a beige McMansion with the only distinguishable characteristic from the other 300 homes in the development being a slightly different faux facade.

Of course it depends on the specific area as the NY City squatters have driven up the prices in some of the more popular areas like Saucon Valley. But even in the city of Bethlehem, my house has almost doubled in value in less than 5 years. Prices are still rising in most markets though. Nazareth is pretty popular right now, and certain areas of Allentown (Not the City of course where you pay 3 times your mortgage in school taxes for a system that doesn't even meet federal standards).

Yup ... my wife and I are looking closely at Cloudcroft in New Mexico as our next home. Property taxes on a nice home only run about $300-400 a year, and you can get a good-sized home in the mountains for around $200,000.

Of course, the education system stinks, since they don't bleed homeowners dry to educate everyone else's kids ... but we plan to be DINKs, so that is of no concern to us.

I think stitchjones does nanny work. I think all you have to do is provide an X360 and Gears of war. Other than that, My kid are 14,16,18,20, what I call built in baby sitting. I wish I could help other than the stitch recommendation.

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Originally Posted by '[AK

but we plan to be DINKs

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So my wife and I aren't alone after all... ;)

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Originally Posted by [AK]Hylander

So my wife and I aren't alone after all... ;)

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I actually had to look DINK up on wikipedia...lol.

I find that more and more of my friends (myself included) are choosing not to have children. Maybe it's a generation thing, or maybe everyone is just selfish like me. :cheese:

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Originally Posted by Swae

I actually had to look DINK up on wikipedia...lol.

I find that more and more of my friends (myself included) are choosing not to have children. Maybe it's a generation thing, or maybe everyone is just selfish like me. :cheese:

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My wife and I decided not to have children early on (We just had our 10th anniversary this past May), and when we told family/friends, etc that we weren't having kids - we got alot of looks, comments, and even some angry responses. I love it when they tell you that you are being selfish for not having kids. Yeah, having kids when you really don't want to is a GREAT idea and situation for the children....

Besides, we have plenty of nephews and god children to spoil if we want to and dump their butts back off at their parents house at the end of the day! :D

Besides, I couldn't raise a child in today's politically correct world. I'd certainly be in prison. :cheese:

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Originally Posted by Swae

I actually had to look DINK up on wikipedia...lol.

I find that more and more of my friends (myself included) are choosing not to have children. Maybe it's a generation thing, or maybe everyone is just selfish like me. :cheese:

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My wife and I decided to wait until we were ready. For us that meant avoiding having kids until we were 35. We got to travel, buy the sporty car, go out to dinner and see movies on Wednesday nights...

Eventually, that stuff kind of lost it's luster. Now we're having a blast seeing our daughter go through all the stuff we enjoyed as kids. Whether or not you ever reach the "tipping point" to wanting kids is an individual thing, but we're living proof it can happen at any age.

The wife and I both knew right from the start that we wanted kids. We have a Norman Rockwellian dream and it's hard to have fun Christmases without kids or grandkids around the fireplace drinking hot cocoa and listening to Christmas stories. Sure we have more pressures and responsibilities now (and less time for gaming) but those rare moments of bliss are soooo worth the hassle.

Bests:
The first time Nuts Jr became cognizant of his penis and said, "My penis is getting big and strong just like me."

The first time Nuts Jr had diarrhea and yelled out from the bathroom, "Daddy, my fanny exploded!"

When Lily's only words are "Da Da Da Da Da" and she only says them when looking at me.

Worst:
Kids in hospitals
Lack of sleep

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Originally Posted by Swae

I find that more and more of my friends (myself included) are choosing not to have children. Maybe it's a generation thing, or maybe everyone is just selfish like me. :cheese:

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Bleh got to watch out for them selfish wemon. I was doing my part populating the world with good stock but my wife had me fixed.

My wife says I'm the only child she needs - I take that as a compliment as I fight the urge to grow up. ;)

Plus, when my mother was still alive she always told me - "I hope one day you have children who behave just like you did." OK - That scared any chance of wanting kids right out of me! :D

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Originally Posted by [AK]Hylander

My wife says I'm the only child she needs - I take that as a compliment as I fight the urge to grow up. ;)

Plus, when my mother was still alive she always told me - "I hope one day you have children who behave just like you did." OK - That scared any chance of wanting kids right out of me! :D

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Funny thing about kids. It's perfectly reasonable to expect that you'll never want them, until you do.

It can be the furthest desire from your mind, but it can "click on" at any time.

So take this opportunity to get neutered. ;)

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Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly

So take this opportunity to get neutered. ;)

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Should I get some frozen just in case? ;)

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Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly

So take this opportunity to get neutered. ;)

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THIS HURTS