daycare

Having a child with food allergies complicates the childcare situation.  You have to have a place that is alert to contaminations, understands allergies, and is willing to address reactions with swift action.  Home daycares are out of the question because carpet irritates K's asthma.  My husband and I are not comfortable with a nanny (no accountability).  So, when the only childcare we had found out in West Texas decided that they did not want K in their system anymore because we, the parents, were "trouble makers" after only attending four days, then we knew we were in trouble.  We spent a year looking at places out there.  It's an oil boom town - there is not exactly an abundance of established centers and most families out there have stay-at-home moms.   We looked all over for somewhere else to take K-man but if they were any good, they had a 6 month waiting list.  If they had an opening, you didn't want to be there and it was easy to see why they weren't full.  One extreme or the other.  

The daycare that did that to us also happened to be part of a private school that ran PreK thru 12th grade.  Up until this, we had planned to enroll K in a private school in the hopes that they would be more attentive to his allergies.  Smaller class sizes and lower student to teacher ratios should equal more attention to individual student needs, right?  Well, what about when you're the squeaky wheel?  What happens when you have an issue or a need and they don't want to address it?  What if they don't want to change to accommodate and decide that you are a "trouble maker" - a "dissenter"?  They can kick you out and leave you without any back up.  So, we are reviewing the options for K when first grade rolls around.  He can stay where he is through kindergarten.  In the meantime, we're praying he grows out of the allergies which still include all dairy, peanuts, and eggs.