Navigating Childcare
One of my biggest concerns when we found out we were expecting—not one, but two babies—was childcare. I had no idea what we were going to do, and to be honest, I was nervous about how much it would cost.
At the time, I was working remotely for a high-growth start-up company that offered great benefits, including 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave and a two-week ramp-up period when I returned. It gave us a bit of breathing room, but once the boys arrived, the reality of planning for childcare hit hard.
We began looking into daycare options shortly after they were born, only to discover long waitlists and hefty tuition costs. That’s when we shifted gears and started exploring the idea of hiring a nanny. Since I worked from home and my husband, Francisco, works non-traditional hours, we realized we didn’t need full-time care. We hoped to save a bit of money and still have the boys at home with us.
I turned to Care.com to start the search—and wow, it was tough. I interviewed a lot of people trying to find the right fit for our family. We even hired someone, only to realize after a week that it wasn’t going to work out.
Funny enough, the first person I connected with ended up being the one. She’s been with us since the boys were four months old, and she’s been an anchor through all the twists and turns of parenting twins. We truly couldn’t have asked for anyone better. The boys absolutely adore her, and we completely trust her.
Now, as the boys approach their second birthday, it’s time for a new chapter: daycare—or as everyone in Orlando calls it, “school.” I added them to a waitlist back in September 2024, thinking we’d enroll them fairly soon. But it wasn’t until August 2025 that two spots finally opened up.
And now that we’re just a few months away, I find myself completely torn up about this transition.
My inner dialogue is constant. Is this the right choice? Are they ready? Am I ready? It just feels big. It’s hard to explain. We need more breathing room in our days, and unfortunately, increasing hours with our nanny just isn’t financially sustainable. With daycare, we’ll actually get more coverage for less cost.
And I know the boys will thrive from regular interaction with other kids. I’m also looking forward to connecting with other families and building more of a local community. This feels like the right move. It really does.
But I’m still not ready.
I’m not ready to say goodbye to our incredible nanny. I’m not ready for this next big shift. I’m not ready to have the boys out of the house every day.
I think this might just be the essence of parenting: constantly stepping into the next thing before you feel fully prepared. The growing pains. The goodbyes. The transitions.
We do it anyway—with a mix of tears, love, and hope that we’re giving our kids what they need, even if our hearts need a little more time to catch up.