Baby Morris is turning 3 months soon and that also means that it is almost time that my Maternity leave comes to an end. I guess it is rather common for mommies to have this separation anxiety piling up when the time gets nearer.
Unfortunately with the high living standards in Singapore, mamaTan has to work. This means that we will have to look at potential babysitting alternatives for our little terror once i am back to work. We researched and discussed while coming upon the few choices:
1. Enrol into infant care centre. In fact, we have been to the Jalan Sultan's myfirstskool which mamaTan wasn't really impressed by the environment there with:
- common shared room with toddlers (in view of room availability)
- common shared cot for infant under 6 months
- toys are everywhere on the floor and the teachers appeared way too busy with ratio 1:5 (understand from president that the government's standard is 1:5 although they trying for 1:3)
Fee: Range around $600-$1000 after working mom's subsidy.
Concerns: Recent HFMD outbreak is last Dec 2014 which makes mamaTan really uncomfortable about it.
2. Consider engaging professional nanny service. That means we are expecting a 1:1 ratio where we will send little terror to the nanny's place for babysitting. Have been hearing from papaTan saying that his colleagues have engaged nanny and there are lesser worries for HFMD and illness spreading since there are minimal interaction with other kids.
Fee: Range around $600-$900 depending on number of hours, solid food or not and certified early childhood professionals.
3. Request grandmaKwan to quit her job while we pay her what we ought to pay ifc and have her to take care of morris. This means that we will need to ferry little terror from home to bedok and back on a daily basis which may cause inconvenience for papaTan. Having grandmaKwan to take care also means that there are chance where morris will be spoilt by her.
Lets hope this can be finalized soon so that i can shift my focus to my career for a moment and hoping everything runs smoothly.