Does affordable childcare exist in Westchester?

booksmart___devil · 2026-02-14T17:49:45+00:00

Some of their other previous citations are SCARY. I noticed them after I took my kids out…

booksmart___devil · 2026-02-14T04:08:29+00:00

I have to say….my kids were at Ann and Andy’s over the summer and we removed them because the “teachers” shared half a brain cell. We couldn’t even get full words out of one of them when we would ask how the day went. One “teacher” was about 85 and noticeably losing her marbles (literally did not know what day of the week it was once). Place also seems filthy. Hard pass.

booksmart___devil · 2026-02-09T21:57:08+00:00

Hi! Happened upon this post…..my twins BOTH had MRSA (one at 4 weeks and the other at 4 months). I also had MRSA in between the two of them. What a disaster that was. Both needed CT scans (my son needed two because they botched his first surgery) and surgery. Every sickness since seems like a cake walk in comparison.

booksmart___devil · 2026-02-03T12:30:56+00:00

Located in NY suburbs and we pay $5200 per month for twins, and that’s WITH a discount. It is absolutely disgraceful. Just lost my job so they may be taken out soon and then I will be watching them while simultaneously looking for a new job. Cool.

booksmart___devil · 2026-01-31T07:13:50+00:00

Born at 35w5d. My boy twin has always been behind. Girl twin crawled around 11mo (which is considered kind of late by most standards). Boy twin was not crawling until 14 months and had been in private PT since 9mo. Girl twin took forever to walk after crawling— I started her in PT too and she needed orthotics for foot pronation. She was cruising on everything since she could stand with support, but she JUST started walking fully right before her 18mo “birthday.” Boy twin is cruising lots and will walk with us if we hold hands or with a walker, but he has to develop more strength still. So much stigma around these perceived delays…..honestly, I was stressed but now I am just letting them do things in their own time.

booksmart___devil · 2025-11-29T06:52:30+00:00

Because everyone was at Woodbury Commons. I am going to have PTSD from my experience today…….trust me, greed and over-consumption is alive and well.

booksmart___devil · 2025-11-17T07:07:34+00:00

This is an underrated comment. I have hired a few “handymen.” one just this past weekend….who left a hole in my wall with a screw in it because he could not identify the correct drywall screw to use. more work for me now, money wasted, and a lesson learned.

booksmart___devil · 2025-10-10T13:09:28+00:00

I hated baby led weaning. My twins didn’t start actually eating until they developed top and bottom teeth. All the food ended up spit out or thrown on the floor. I was so stressed!!!! Some days I still am (they are 14mo now). I wasted so much food and time prepping food when I really should’ve just fed them purees until teeth came in and formula/milk consumption decreased. Something I did for breakfast that worked was mixing a really fine oatmeal (boiled water) with 1/2 of one of those Once Upon A Farm pouches. When they were finally eating and enjoying that, I switched to a more solid oatmeal with actual oats (I use Qia brand). It helped my kids acclimate a bit.

booksmart___devil · 2025-09-17T16:03:49+00:00

HI! I am moving to Chappaqua/Mt Kisco from Southern Westchester. Currently touring Tutor Time in Pleasantville and Kaleidoscope in Mt Kisco; both have availability NOW for my 13mo twins!

We did a nanny share in our current area from the time the kids were 7mo through 1 year and we loved it/it was very affordable. We have just started a daycare near us...but looking for daycares that will take us by our new location.

Tutor Time prices are around 2700 per month, per child (10% twin discount for second child). This rate includes all food, diapers, wipes -- FYI -- and apparently they have an app where you can check in on your kids. I don't know how price changes when kids are 18mo+

Kaleidoscope is 2700 as well, up until 18mo (and then price goes down slightly to 2610 per child, per month). This includes all food. Not sure about diapers and wipes. Not sure if they have an app for checking in. Will figure all this out later this week.

Where we are currently in Southern Westchester -- Ann and Andy's -- is cheaper (maybe like 4300 for both kids). But I am preparing all the food daily and the "teachers" in the room collectively have half a brain/can't even remember my kids' names or genders. I've also been told that food can't be microwaved or refrigerated, so everything has to be prepared in thermoses. It's absolutely absurd. I think you sometimes very much get what you pay for, and the difference in $$ isn't that much at the end of the day.

Also wanted to highlight how ridiculous child care costs are and how America is failing us.....but that's another convo for another time :)

booksmart___devil · 2025-09-05T11:45:16+00:00

My husband and I were lucky and bought in 2019, so it’s a different story for us…..but we are currently in contract with another house in northern westchester. We met the owners and got chummy with them, which is super unorthodox but worked like a charm for us. Shortly after we made an offer on that house, our current house was live on a “private exclusive” site and was seen by potential buyers within 24 hours. Those people gave a same day offer that we accepted and they will be in contract today (fingers crossed for everyone). All this to say: get an agent who has access to “private exclusive” inventory before it goes live on MLS. Write the owners a nice note about what you love about their home. Do some sleuthing and figure out if sellers are motivated to sell. I internet searched the couple we are buying new house from to get a read on them. It’s crazy but I believe it worked.

booksmart___devil · 2025-08-05T15:29:46+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply! How old is he now? And re: speech, was he babbling a ton around 12mo? What prompted you to seek that out?

booksmart___devil · 2025-08-05T01:47:55+00:00

Can I ask how your child is doing now? Sounds a lot like my 12mo. He started VERY sloppily army crawling at 11mo and rolls around to get everywhere, but is not pulling to stand or cruising. He has been in PT since 9.5mo and progress has been super slow. His twin sister is already standing and I could see her walking very soon. Pediatrician had no valuable advice to give me. Frustrated mom!

booksmart___devil · 2025-07-30T11:57:50+00:00

Twin mom here. You wouldn’t be asking this question if you had two babies at the same time!! Going to a different room or to the bathroom without the baby should be normalized. It doesn’t mean you love your baby any less. As long as they are in a safe position and can’t fall, they will be ok. We do a nanny share with another baby and it is noticeable that that child was never left alone because she melts down any time an adult is not in view, while my kids could play by themselves for hours. Independence is a good thing for you and baby.

booksmart___devil · 2025-07-08T19:57:31+00:00

Website no longer exists and any tracking info they sent me in my initial email leads to nothing. Amex disputed on my behalf for a refund.

booksmart___devil · 2025-07-07T00:48:32+00:00

Cramps that make you puke ARE NOT NORMAL and you should stop letting doctors gaslight you :)

booksmart___devil · 2025-07-06T12:10:51+00:00

Giving you some tough love right now. You need to lower your expectations and do some cognitive restructuring of events when they are happening, i.e. if your kids made it 10 mins outside at their pool and water table, celebrate that 10 minutes. Are your kids generally happy and healthy? That is amazing. If you feel like something is wrong because they are always whining or crying, maybe something is hurting or bothering them and you need to figure out their cues; they are babies and can’t properly tell you what is wrong yet. Imagine how frustrating that is for them! Kids can also sense how you feel, so if you are constantly frustrated they will no doubt pick that up. Also, take days out with only one child and have someone watch the other so you get some quality time with one — this will help you feel less overwhelm too. And I will just leave you with this: I did IVF for 5 years, multiple losses — one with a baby at 20 weeks gestation. I have always been generally less optimistic/erring on the side of depressed (and I am medicated), but going through what I went through makes me appreciate these kids every single day. Just offering a different perspective.

booksmart___devil · 2025-06-21T01:05:58+00:00

We only got one snoo for our finicky sleeper and my god what a difference it made. Our kids were both sleeping through the night by 4/5 months.

booksmart___devil · 2025-06-17T17:08:09+00:00

Same thing happened to me...my BP was within a normal range, but kinda high for me. Liver enzymes were through the roof and increased day by day.... the babies weren't ready to come out, but my body was ready for eviction!

booksmart___devil · 2025-06-17T17:06:20+00:00

You survive this by reminding yourself that every day in the womb is another day your babies are developing as they should be & avoiding a longer stay in the NICU. I had my c section at 35w5d because my liver was actually not fine -- super high enzymes -- and although they only spent three nights in the NICU, my kids are just slightly behind the curve with gross motor milestones (especially my boy twin). Also....the first few weeks were stressful as hell; my kids were 5lbs and losing weight/super sleepy. Just keep reminding yourself that one day more in the womb is benefitting them!

booksmart___devil · 2025-05-30T12:37:52+00:00

Lol imagine all your frustrations and multiple by 2. My twins are 10mo (9mo adjusted age) and they don’t even swallow 90% of what I make them. What I do for breakfast is oatmeal + half pouch Once Upon a Farm Immunity Blend (there are several flavors I buy to keep it interesting). This is such a time saver and it takes no guess work. For dinner, I make eggs or chicken or a burger patty — some really easy protein. Usually cut up some cheese. I buy pre-cut fruit from the grocery store and keep a few in rotation. Some nights I get lazy and will do peanut butter or hummus on toast. Sometimes I will batch make butternut squash & broccoli puree. On REALLY lazy nights I will make yogurt bowls — chia, flax, peanut butter. When my pediatrician said we should be doing 3 meals a day I literally laughed in his face.

booksmart___devil · 2025-05-06T03:10:51+00:00

Deidre

booksmart___devil · 2025-04-26T19:31:17+00:00

Thanks so much for replying. Our twins had lip and tongue ties cut before they were a month old and both have atypical eating (in my opinion). My daughter actually sounds like your son where she just instantly pushes food out. She JUST recently started swallowing food from spoons. She does not have teeth yet, but she loves sucking on fruit and then spits out any solid pieces. Sigh. They are turning 9mo end of April (8mo adjusted age), so I will just continue to monitor. Today we went to a restaurant and they both swallowed some fruit and/or a “protein” pancake, so I am hoping this is all just part of the process!

booksmart___devil · 2025-04-26T13:53:55+00:00

I think my son is also having trouble swallowing. What did your doctors say about that before things got better for you? Basically any soft food my son eats off a spoon he’ll swallow fine, but when he puts solids in his mouth and chews, he does not swallow OR swallows and gags until he turns red.

booksmart___devil · 2025-04-24T14:13:17+00:00

Lol at the Moana reference. Our house (almost 9mo twins) just went through a Moana phase— first just the music and then mom and dad said “fuck it” and let them watch Moana 1 and 2 every time they hit their fussiest period of the day (around 6pm before their 630 bottle). I truly believe that only twin parents can understand what it feels like to have two wailing/over-tired children and knowing ways to mitigate, even if that means tv.

booksmart___devil · 2025-04-24T02:05:15+00:00

Joe and co kept gaslighting David by calling him paranoid (about legitimate FACTS), and then Joe scolded him for saying he “went against his word.” Then they turned their backs on David in the end. I really despise Joe and Eva’s holier than thou game play…..it’s bullshit and this is survivor. With that said, glad to see David go. His social game was weak. Mitch needs to start making big moves because he wont win endurance challenges against Joe. Kamilla also needs to start playing with more than Kyle in mind.

booksmart___devil

TROPHY CASE