3 kids, 60k this upcoming school year in childcare/tuition. Are we insane?

[Anonymous]

What are you paying this year? The oldest sounds like s/he's in some sort of preschool or full time care environment and not home with the nanny.

Is your youngest in a nanny share with another family's child? If not, can the nanny take care of your younger two and just do part time preschool for the middle child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is right. What's the alternative?

Well, public kindergarten is free...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you paying 2K/month per child for the younger two?

Nanny for infant. toddler in full time daycare center. We are in dc.

That makes no sense. Toddler should be in a 2 morning a week program.

If even that.

[Anonymous]

Are you insane? Yes, you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you paying 2K/month per child for the younger two?

Nanny for infant. toddler in full time daycare center. We are in dc.

SO if you go private for #'s 2 and 3, you will be dropping $50-$60K for the next 10 years.

We have 3 that are similar age differences and spent around $50K the year that we had K, PreK3 and a nanny for the infant. We used the nanny for days school was closed, winter breaks etc. and the nanny was so that we did not do 3 drop offs although daycare would have been cheaper. We did after care instead of nanny because of naps / transportation etc.

I don't think 1 year of those costs are crazy - but I think you need to think about what is realistic given your family priorities for the future.

[Anonymous]

Not insane.

[Anonymous]

If you are happy with the programs and it works for you, I would do it. Is it long term?
We have an HHI of $270k and pay $55k/year for 1 infant and 1 4 year old in private preschool-- this is for full time, year round coverage.
Yes, it's nuts, but only for a year until we start K (public) next year.

[Anonymous]

That's more than my salary....

[Anonymous]

Drop the daycare for the toddler, then have nanny take care both the infant and toddler and after school, the kindergartener. Next year, drop the private school. Use the some of the money you save to move into a neighborhood with better public schools.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to skirt the issue of that the kids are so young (so we are not talking about high school ) because other PPs seem to have it. I just want to address the public/private decision.

I moved to Nova from an area in Southern CA where the publics weren't great. So I understand the private school hype. But I do not get it here at all.

I'd move somewhere (rent, if need be) where the public schools are great, and send my kid there.

I do not agree with living one's lifestyle to the hilt and maxing oneself and spouse out. Things change; things go wrong, people get sick etc. You'll have no savings, and feel trapped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to skirt the issue of that the kids are so young (so we are not talking about high school ) because other PPs seem to have it. I just want to address the public/private decision.

I moved to Nova from an area in Southern CA where the publics weren't great. So I understand the private school hype. But I do not get it here at all.

I'd move somewhere (rent, if need be) where the public schools are great, and send my kid there.

I do not agree with living one's lifestyle to the hilt and maxing oneself and spouse out. Things change; things go wrong, people get sick etc. You'll have no savings, and feel trapped.

I have to agree. That's okay for now, OP, but what will you do when the two infants are school age? You'll have a hefty private school bill for years to come. I'd think about moving before the infants hit K to an area with good public schools.

[Anonymous]

No kidding. Instead, start mutual funds for each of them with the money you'd spend on privates. Put it in an index and give your kids the best possible gift ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you paying 2K/month per child for the younger two?

Nanny for infant. toddler in full time daycare center. We are in dc.

That makes no sense. Toddler should be in a 2 morning a week program.

If even that.

OP, the point of having a nanny, or au pair, when you have multiple children is that the cost of employing a nanny to care for 2-3 children is about the same, or sometimes even less, than full time daycare for all the other kids. I'm not sure why you've triple stacked yourself with these expenses, but here's what I'd do instead:

-Have your nanny care for the baby, have the toddler in a part-time program that's no more than 3k a year, and have the older child in public KG (unless your child didn't make the age cut-off and that's why you're paying for private?)
-Alternatively, get an au pair if you have the space and have the toddler in a half-day preschool, and keep your older one in private
-No aftercare for the oldest, if you were doing that for any reason
-Keep winter, spring, and summer break activities limited to lower cost options - programs through the rec center, story time at the library, etc

[Anonymous]

To have a full time nanny it would run OP nearly 40,000 anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To have a full time nanny it would run OP nearly 40,000 anyway.

She already has a full time nanny, plus another 12k in private school tuition & whatever full-time daycare is costing her for the toddler's daycare. We're saying keep the nanny, go to a two-mornings/week toddler program, and perhaps even nix the private KG.