Seven Families’ Solutions : Parents Try Everything from Low-Cost Care to High-Priced Nannies

THE MURCHISONS

Greg, 29, Brenda, 34, Brian, 10, Jodi, 4, Amy, 2, of Valencia. - Family status: Married. - Occupations: Greg is project liaison representative for Rockwell International Corp., Palmdale. Brenda is senior buyer for Consolidated Control Corp., Valencia.

- Children in family: Brian, 10, (Greg’s stepson), Jodi, 4, Amy, 2. - Age entered child care: All children were 2 years old. - Type of child care: Pinecrest School for daughters and after-school baby-sitting for son, who attends public school. - Monthly cost: $500 ($250 per child) for Pinecrest, lunch and snacks included; $107, after-school care. - Criteria for child care: Structured activities, close supervision, hot lunch, varied field trips. - Benefits: “I like the structure,” Brenda said of Pinecrest. “They do a lot of arts and crafts projects. They can talk about the alphabet and shapes. They are so much more ahead. And they are able to learn to play with other children. There is a very loving staff.” - Drawbacks: None with present arrangement. - Alternatives when child is sick: Unlicensed baby sitters or parents care for child. - Routine: Brenda leaves home at 7:15 a.m. to drop off daughters, works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., picks up daughters and son, who walks to sitter’s or father’s house from elementary school. Twice weekly, Greg picks up daughters. THE GREENBERGS

Mickey, 29, and B. J. (Bettyjane), 34, Daniel, 6, Evan, 3, Minda, 4 months, of Sherman Oaks

- Family status: Married

- Occupations: Mickey is a word processor for Yvette Berman Business Services, Los Angeles. B. J. is a bookkeeper for Harkitt Corp., Panorama City. - Age entered child care: Daniel, 2 1/2; Evan, 6 weeks; Minda, 11 weeks. - Type of child care: For Daniel, after-school care at grandparents’ home. For Evan, Pixieland School, licensed Van Nuys preschool. For Minda, licensed baby sitter, Alice Nazarian, of North Hollywood. - Monthly cost: Evan, $112, two days weekly ($301 for five days weekly in September), drinks and snacks included. Minda, $279.

- Criteria in selecting child care: Depends on child’s age. Initially, a licensed baby sitter living near B. J.’s parents’ home. Later, a structured preschool offering credentialed teachers and creative activities. - Benefits: In regard to Evan: “We figured that, once he became 2 years old, he needed to be in a learning situation as opposed to a sitting situation,” Mickey said. “Even though after 5 months he was still crying every day, we took him, he came home with a smile. It’s helped him a lot. He verbalizes much better; he recognizes things. The thing we like about it the most is that they’ve been open for several years, and the same people who opened the school still own the school. For Minda, the biggest convenience is that her grandparents live near the sitter’s home and pick her up at 5 p.m., then watch her until B. J. arrives at 5:15 p.m.” Also, Mickey added, the sitter formerly watched Evan from age 6 weeks to 2 years, “so we know she honestly takes care of our child the way we would expect someone to.” - Drawbacks: Preparing lunch for Evan; the school doesn’t provide it, Mickey said. Since Minda is nursing, she misses two or three feedings daily and receives formula instead. In Mickey’s routine, the inconvenience is simply “having to pack her up and take her.”

- Alternatives when child is sick: Grandparents Don and Cyrille Garfield, of North Hollywood, retired parents of B. J. - Routine: During the school year, Mickey leaves apartment at 8 a.m., drops Daniel off at Riverside Elementary School; Evan, at Pixieland School, and Minda, at the baby sitter’s home. During the summer, Daniel stays at the Garfields’ home each workday. - Comments: In reference to a school’s structure, Mickey said, “A typical question we will ask is, ‘Do you have a structure I can look at?’ If it’s, ‘Well, we’re going to probably work on letters and make some paintings,’ then you say to yourself, ‘If you don’t care, how much will you care when my child gets into trouble?’ ”

THE HUNTS

Steve, 35, Judy, 34, Christopher, 2, of Agoura

- Family status: Married.

- Occupations: Steve is director of employee consultation for CBS Inc., Los Angeles. Judy is director of corporate services for Holman Consulting Corp., Canoga Park.

- Age entered child care: 18 months.

- Type of child care: Licensed home-care baby sitter, Donna Hurd.

- Monthly cost: $301, breakfast, lunch and snacks included.

- Benefits: “Christopher has learned to be more independent. He needed to be with other children. We felt socialization was important,” said Judy. Steve said, “We are able to go through our day and feel that our child is safe and is in an environment where his needs are always cared for.”

- Drawbacks: “The ideal situation would be to have a live-in sitter,” said Judy. “But the cost was prohibitive.”

- Alternative when child is sick: Grandparents, Harry and Sue Hunt of Westlake Village, who are retired.

- Routine: Steve drops off Christopher about 7:45 a.m. Judy picks him up about 5:45 p.m.

- Comments: “Every night, when we ask God to bless everyone, Donna comes right after our parents,” said Judy.

THE MEEHANS

Chris, 33, Jessica, 2, and Marissa, 8, of Northridge

- Family status: Legally separated, has custody of children.

- Occupation: Vice president of education, Redken Laboratories Inc., Canoga Park. - Age entered child care: Marissa, 7, Jessica, 14 months. - Type of child care: Nanny. - Monthly cost: $1,075. - Criteria for child care: “I didn’t want someone just baby-sitting the children. I wanted someone who could help with their development and spend quality time with them in my absence. I wanted someone who had experience in dealing with children, preferably small children, who had good references and knew about basic child development.”

- Benefits: Conceding he works “very irregular” hours and travels about one weekend monthly, Meehan said the primary benefit of a live-in caretaker is “peace of mind.” “I know that my kids are well taken care of. She spends a lot of time with the kids out in the pool and takes them to the zoo and out clothes-shopping. My No. 1 objective was to have Marissa have someone she was going to feel comfortable with.” - Drawbacks: “It’s a different environment. I just weigh that against the benefits for the kids. Certainly, privacy is going to be affected.” - Routine: He drops off Marissa at school about 8 a.m., and her nanny, Irene, picks her up mid-afternoon. - Comments: “It’s not a totally stable situation in terms of a husband and wife living together, but it certainly would be more difficult otherwise. My ex-wife is still actively involved in visiting the kids.”

THE WATERSES

Pam, 31, Shaun, 3 1/2, of North Hollywood.

- Family status: Single parent.

- Occupation: Consumer loan processor, Gibraltar Savings, North Hollywood.

- Age entered child care: At age 3 weeks, Shaun began going to a licensed baby sitter while Pam finished school at United College of Business.

- Type of child care: East Valley YMCA Sunshine Co. Preschool, North Hollywood.

- Monthly cost: $67, snacks included. Balance of $183 is subsidized by the state through the vendor payment program administered by the Child Care Resource Center.

- Benefits: “It’s been good academically and culturally for him. He’s been there since he was 2 1/2 years old. Before that, he was in a home where he played all day--nothing really constructive. Academically, I’ve seen an improvement. His conversation is better; he knows his numbers and the alphabet. The teachers are excellent. They’re caring and understanding. There’s a lot of love. They have a lot of programs for the children during the day in swimming, dancing and singing. You can sign them up for swimming, say, Monday and Wednesday, and a van takes them over and picks them up and takes them back to class. It’s great. Before, you couldn’t even get him in the bathtub!”

- Drawbacks: “I would like to see my son provided with a hot lunch. Also, I would like it if they were open until 7. That way, I could work overtime.”

- Alternatives when child is sick: Goes to home of one of two licensed baby sitters, for $50 to $60 weekly rate.

- Routine: Leaves apartment at 8:10 a.m. to drop off child. Works 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

- Comments: “Basically, I’m starting over. It was kind of hard for me in the beginning.” Referring to the Child Care Resource Center, she said, “I’m on a CCRC early child-care program for mothers who are single parents on one income. They put you on a sliding scale, and you just pay what you can afford.”

THE STOCKSTILLS

Becky, 36, Jim, 46, Christopher, 2 1/2, of Woodland Hills

- Family status: Married.

- Occupations: Jim is vice president of Hester Systems Inc., Westlake Village. Becky is customer support representative for Proprietory Computer Systems, Van Nuys.

- Age entered child care: At 3 months old, Christopher was placed in a licensed baby sitter’s home.

- Type of child care: California State University, Northridge, Preschool Laboratory, staffed by part-time faculty from the Department of Home Economics.

- Monthly cost: $387, includes snacks. Hot lunch, $1 daily.

- Criteria in selecting child care: “Close supervision, some structure, happy children.”

- Benefits: “I think a lab like this teaches a certain amount of discipline that will be beneficial 10 or 15 years from now,” Jim said. Becky said, “It gives a child more of an opportunity to find out what he is about so, when he gets into a more structured environment, he has a better sense of himself. The teachers are firm, yet understanding and tolerant. You can make a mess because it’s part of learning when you’re doing arts and crafts.”

- Drawbacks: “Wherever you have it, it isn’t centrally located for both parents,” Jim said. “There are time constraints. I work very erratic hours, and, since I travel a lot, it makes it very difficult for Becky.” Said Becky: “I live in Woodland Hills and work in Van Nuys, and driving to Northridge is not fun. There also are time constraints at night. Just dropping what you’re doing and running out the door isn’t conducive to doing a good job.”

- Alternatives when child is sick: Cared for by licensed baby sitter in her home (sitter who previously watched him full-time).

- Routine: Jim and Becky take turns dropping off Christopher about 8:30 a.m. and picking him up at 5:30 p.m.

- Comments: “I checked out a lot of preschools and had gone to Northridge to look at the preschool when they told me they had thought about this as a pilot,” Becky said. “I put him on the list, and they called me.”

THE LALLYS

Kevin, 31, Pamela, 33, and Catherine, 18 months, of Studio City

- Family status: Married.

- Occupations: Kevin is chief resident of pediatric surgery, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Pamela is a pediatrician at Childrens Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics, USC.

- Age entered child care: 4 months.

- Type of child care: Baby sitter who comes to their home.

- Monthly cost: $860.

- Criteria in selecting child care: Consistent mother figure without children of her own who could provide one-on-one care.

- Benefits: “Up until 2 1/2, children need an adult whom they look to for everything, and they don’t do well in a day-care setting where they’re told to play with others,” Pamela said. “The main thing is that this is her own house, toys, bear and crib. She’s also a stable person for Catherine. I felt it was important that she have a mother-surrogate person. She looks forward to her coming. Also, it gives me a little more time with my daughter. All I have to do is get myself ready. When I come home, she is pretty fresh and ready to play with me. I have about four or five hours of quality time with her. I don’t have to come home and do dishes and laundry and all the stuff that would take me from her.”

- Drawbacks: “She doesn’t get out to see other kids a lot, to develop social skills,” Pamela said. “I encourage that they go to the park. I think she doesn’t meet and socialize as much as kids in day care.”

- Alternatives when child is sick: Pamela calls in sick or works for a few hours, then returns home. If needed, she calls the Community Service Agency Inc. in Tarzana. “I have used them, and they are able to provide someone on momentary notice,” Pamela said.

- Routine: Baby sitter arrives at 8 a.m. and departs about 6 p.m.

- Comments: “My main yardstick is how my daughter is and how she is developing. If she is in a good mood and talks about things they have done, I assume it was a good day,” Pamela said. “I made a decision that I would spend a lot of money on child care, and the best option was to have someone come to my home.”