Challenges of day-to-day life

I have been truly busy in the past month. In order for my leave (from my job for a year) to be fruitful, I needed to create some free time to myself. For those who have children, they are well aware of the fact that the younger they are, the more attention and energy is needed to care for them. What I needed was 4-5 hours, uninterrupted, with peace of mind; and to know that my son is well taken care of and happy. So I started to probe different childcare options.
First, I interviewed several nannies. I was not impressed at all. Most people that I interviewed were not warm, and were emotionally distant. I was disappointed and it pushed me towards the direction of finding a good daycare.
In greater New York City area, there is definitely lack of good daycares. Many children are born every year in the City which need care and due to the high demand, there is not much competition to improve the quality of service. When I began the search, I created a list of attributes of what I considered to be an acceptable quality. The first ten daycares I visited didn't meet my minimums of standards. Some had old-fashioned discipline policy (punishment for correcting behavior), some had religious attitude (I am an agnostic, I don't want my son to learn to say the grace at the table or pray, I consider that brainwashing from early childhood), or the lack of qualified teachers. The more I would look, the more desperate the landscape would seem to be. However at 14th place that I saw, I was positively impressed. The place met most of my important psychological attributes that I would care about. Well, no place is perfect. There may not be much of outdoor playing area, but I can be sure of emotionally-balanced teachers care for my son and help him grow.
Today is the end of his first week at school and he seems to be happy and adapting well. I am getting used to the luxury of having 4-5 hours of time per day to myself. I am detoxifying from last year's pressure at work. I am gradually creating a list of what I want to do this year, list of books I wish to read, and the classes I would like to attend. I feel more happy and calm. I am finally creating a space of my own.