Harvard or Yale?

Go Team!

So, it's obviously not a choice like which college to attend, who to marry, where to purchase a home, but somehow, choosing a day care seems like an epic decision.  I think back to the scene in Baby Boom (hells yeah, I just threw down a reference to Diane Keaton's fantastic 1987 turn as a Manhattan yuppie go-getter who -- and here's where the movie sort of breaks down -- randomly inherits a baby from some dead distant relative) where she has to get her adopted daughter into a snooty nursery school by having the kid correctly identify the people (like Gandhi and Einstein) and things (like sushi) on a bunch of flashcards.  Sam Shepard as the hot country vet?  Anyone?

Now, we haven't run into any competition as such while looking at day cares for Milo.  In fact, we just visited two places yesterday, and when I asked one of the directors whether she anticipated a "registration crush," she was like, no, if we get a couple more kids in that class for next September, we'll just add another adult as needed.  And the director at the other place seemed kind of desperate for us to enroll him.

In any case, I don't expect that any of the places that we're thinking about sending him next year will A) have him on the fast track to one of the Ivies or B) send him home to us on any given day with a five o'clock shadow and smelling of whiskey and cigarettes.  However, there's a lot of middle ground in terms of Milo's engagement, the engagement of his caretakers, the general atmosphere (is it quiet and organized?  loud and chaotic?  does it smell like orange-scented Lysol?  exactly how egregious is the visible booger situation or V.B.S.?), and this is where visiting each place and going with one's gut, rather than a predetermined matrix of price/distance/comfort/expertise, seems like a good move.

There's a big decision in the offing.  Stay tuned...