So, these other threads have given me food for thought.
I have lovely dc2 who is four months old. I can either return to work in October when maternity leave (paid) runs out or wait until January and have a very poor Christmas!
The problem is with childcare.
With dc1 she went to her Nans four days a week and I had Fridays off. Then, when she was 18 months old I started her in nursery one day per week then eventually two days per week. We got this lovely nursery which is about five or six miles away. The reason for this was that it needed to be near DP's work as I was working away the days she was in nursery.
Now, we live in a house with a nursery right across the street. It also has a service of walking bus for older dc1 which could walk her to school (currently DP does this before he goes to work). Dc2 could still go to nannys a couple of days a week but she lives the other side of town, so compared to nursery across street it's a bit of a fuss in the morning. BUt would benefit dc2 as she would not have a full week of nursery.
But I am yearning to send her to dd1 s old nursery. It's just so idyllic. Really gorgeous. Nursery across the street is just okay. Would be so much easier to collect both children from same place and no real distance to drive each day, so saves petrol ( another expense)! Plus I know lots of parents at dd1s school who use nursery across the street. And they are really happy with it.
DP works long hours and really can't do after nursery pick up, nor does he want to. He is against me going back to work full stop! But I worry about money all the time and know I will not walk back into a job like mine in five years when dc2 is at school.
So AIBU to consider using nursery far away? Should I just make everyone's lives easier and use nursery across the street?