Back from Sweden

It's early Friday morning right now, and we just got back from Sweden around midnight Wednesday. We spent yesterday unpacking and opening our Christmas presents. Also, a couple things happened regarding my licensing while I was gone. First of all, in the mail I received the clearance on Sven's fingerprints. That was a big relief simply because I had been told that that could take a very long time, but it apparently took less than three weeks, and over the holidays at that!

Also, there was a message on my answering from licensing. I'm assuming the call was an attempt to set up the home inspection, one of the very last steps of the process. I called her back, but couldn't get ahold of her directly.

So then I called someone from the 4C Council. 4C stands for Community Child Care Council of Santa Clara County. They have a program called the Child Care Initiative Project which will reimburse Family Child Care providers once they have obtained their licenses and completed at least 3 designated activities. I haven't yet done any of the activities, as I was told the program was run on a "first-come first-served" basis, and once they run out of money, it's over. I was waiting until my licensing process was nearly complete, but now it is! I called my CCIP Program Coordinator and arranged for a home visit, sort of a pre-licensing inspection check. She will be coming next Thursday morning, January 11.

So my next step is to do a few last minute things to prepare myself for the inspection. The fire extinguisher we have is too small, so we need to buy a larger one. I should buy a complete first-aid kit, and install childlocks under my kitchen sink.

Things are really coming along! I hope I can have the license by the end of the month. Then my focus can turn towards purchasing more materials and setting up our children's garden.