My smile is back!

So last night I found my smile again...thanks to the daycare lady we interviewed.  I should start this by saying there is no way that we will be choosing this lady, but the experience was too funny to not share.  I've been researching daycare's in the area around our house for some time and Kevin has been calling and setting up interviews with providers and talking to them about our needs and what they offer.  To be fair...Kevin warned me about his initial feelings about this woman, but I didn't want to discount someone by the way they sounded on the phone.  Plus she is practically in our backyard and has a little longer hours than other people we've talked to.  After meeting her, I'm a little afraid that she's living so close to us :) 

So last night we walk over to this woman's house and upon meeting her, I give Kevin some crazy eyes...little did I know what I would see next.  She showed us into her living room and immediately I wanted to burst out laughing.  This woman's living room walls were covered in mounted deer heads.  I get that it's her husbands hobby, but...really?  Mulitple levels of deer heads on the walls of a very tiny living room.  Kevin got the same feeling, but started counting the heads silently to himself for the effect of the story later.  In case you're wondering...there was 26 deer heads that Kevin counted.  Next she ushered us downstairs to the daycare area, in her unfinished cold, dungeon of a basement.  To give her credit there was colors on the walls, letters, numbers and toys around, but the ceiling and walls were unfinished and it was cold down there.  She immediately started showing us all her safety information and bombarding us with information we didn't even have a chance to ask for.  When she turned to bragging about her two daughters every 2 minutes I had had enough.  I couldn't even think of questions to come up with to ask her.  Luckily Kevin thought of a few to ask her and enough to make us seem polite.  She told us that she didn't have any questions for us, because she had us all figured out (what a scary thought).  I couldn't get out of there fast enough, because I had made my mind up within the first two minutes of meeting her, there is no way I'm leaving our son in her care for any amount of time.  If you've ever seen the show Big Bang Theory she is much like the female version of Sheldon.  Although thinking about it, I might leave our son with someone like Sheldon before this woman. 

After leaving I couldn't stop laughing and talking about her.  Kevin was afraid as we were walking away that she was gawking at us through the window or that the yard was bugged to hear what we were saying.  I'm sure she's great with kids, I know that her care would be EXTREMELY safe and clean, she just wasn't what we were looking for in daycare at all.  We hope to find someone friendly, who allows kids to be kids, to play, laugh, giggle, make messes and just generally have fun all while learning at the same time.  Luckily we have met with one daycare provider who seems to offer all of this, and we will definitely be interviewing some more. 

I texted my dad upon leaving the daycare, because he appreciates this kind of stuff and as a hunter himself I thought he should know about the deer heads.  When he told me "Ya, I don't think so" I knew it for sure wasn't a fit.  I continued to tell him about her and at one point my dad asked, "Did she wear a coon skin hat as well?"   To which I replied..."No, but she was wearing a camo shirt".  That's right, she was wearing camo at our interview.  John Deere maybe, camo...NO WAY! 

All in all it was a great night, I found something to laugh about and get my mind thinking of other things than what's going on with work.  Kevin got to see me smile again and we both learned a very valuable lesson.  Go with your gut.  Kevin has a great first instinct and was right about this lady from the beginning, but at least we had the opportunity to find out what a definite NO is when it comes to daycare providers.  Back to the search...and maybe someday when baby swan is acting naughty we'll taunt him with who he could've been stuck with for daycare if he didn't have parents that loved him so much!