Where do I go from here?

When Luke was little he was watched by a stay at home mom who babysat other kids. She had to stop watching Luke when he turned two. At that point I enrolled him into a local preschool/daycare. It was a fantastic program and it did wonders for him at that age and all the way up until he started school.

Thomas will be turning two in October and I have really been trying to decide what would be best for him after he turns two. He is currently with a stay at home mom who babysits. Do I make the leap and enroll him into the same preschool and give him all the same opportunities Luke has had or do I wait.

So I decided step one should be get pricing and details from the preschool. This is where my choice gets hard because it is so expensive. Currently I pay $100 a week for Thomas to go to his sitter 4 days a week but I do have the option for the 5th day at the same price. The preschool would cost me $152 for 3 days a week. This is hard to stomach when you are use to paying less than this. If I go with the 3 days a week (this is what Luke did) than both grandma's will have to go back to watching Thomas one day a week every week. Something I am not sure I want nor do I think either of them can do anymore.

My second option would be to pay for the 3 days at the preschool and retain current sitter for 1 day a week for an additional $25 but that is now $75 more a week. Not exactly something I thrilled about.

I have tried to way out the pros and cons of each.

• Preschool -very proactive at age 2 with potty training
• Sitter- not very helpful with potty training.
• Preschool -always open except holidays.
• Sitter- takes time off leaving me without child care
• Preschool -charges even if child doesn't attend & no price change for closed holidays.
• Sitter -only charges when child is their.
• Preschool -learning environment
• Sitter-playing environment
• Preschool -very expensive
• Sitter -much more budget friendly
• Preschool -sick more often (at least this was the case with Luke)
  
• Sitter -healthier environment
  

When I look down this list I see money as a major factor and I am not looking at what is best for Thomas. My car has been paid off so it isn't like I couldn't apply that money here but this is not how I wanted to spend that extra money.

I guess I am just very torn and cant decide if I just shouldn't wait one more year. Currently Thomas has some very bad habits from the sitters due to very aggressive kids but I can't be certain that won't be an issue with the daycare also.

I also really want that learning environment and my sitter does not spend time with them teaching them things. She said that from day one that is just not what she does. When he was a baby I was fine with that because at that stage the nurturing seemed more important to me.

I just don't know what to do? I can't seem to come to a decision that makes me happy.