Hi People

Leighton will be six months old in less than two weeks. Other than Jamison (who is four months younger) and her buddy Patrick (whom she rarely sees) she doesn't have any baby friends.

I have no idea when kids actually make friends, but I do know that Lei wants to devour Jamsey when the two are together. In fact, Leighton was sucking on her teeny friend's toes this past weekend. If putting someone else's tootsies in your mouth isn't the foundation for lasting friendship, I don't know what is.

Little friends aren't easy to come by in our building. Sure, there are a few kids, and the neighborhood is loaded with them, but I have a feeling we aren't the friendliest folks in the world. We don't even know the names of the people who live on our floor. 

Before they moved, the family down the hall (with two little girls) brought a gift for Leighton. The card said "For Baby" because they didn't know our names either. When they left, the four year-old said "Bye-bye people" as she walked down the hall. Her mom said "Sorry about that. Since we don't know anyone's name, we told her to just call everyone people". I promised myself that Leighton would learn to make friends and address neighbors by their proper names.

Yesterday, in the midst of calculating nanny costs and day school fees (yes I know that it's really daycare when you're six months old but calling it school makes me feel better), I came to a startling realization. My kid is getting bigger and smarter by the minute and the confines of our condo can no longer contain her. She screams and babbles and actually sees the animals at the zoo and investigates everything and mimics our moves and grabs Luella with wild eyes and ... needs constant entertainment.

I panicked. Then, I Googled. Then, I signed up for Mommy and Me Yoga, Music Together classes and investigated a new gym that has cooler kid stuff than our current gym. Finally, I decided yes to the new gym and vowed to expose Leighton to both a nanny and fabulous daycare so that she is properly cared for and adequately socialized. I mentally spent $27k wihtout batting an eye.

Tonight we will sit down with a calculator and red pen and determine a course for our precious peanut. Perhaps this is the reason people move to the suburbs or closer to family. See Urbane. Or, maybe this is just the beginning of the Nanny vs. Daycare debate.

How do your kids make friends? Did you struggle with the nanny versus daycare decision? Please post a comment and share your fuss with us!

Comments

[Beth Koehler]

Vivi is in daycare and she has made many friends there. I don't think there is a right answer to the nanny vs. daycare debate. For me, I wanted her exposed to lots of kids. She's been hitting her milestones out of the park and loves her friends. Of course, she brings home every bug -- I'm thinking of renaming her "petri dish." I calculate that we spend $2500 on her a month. That number will go up once we have to move to a better school district -- but we have a few years yet.