Crafty, if you find someone going back to work in Dec. try to talk them into starting in Nov. part time before they go back from their mat leave. I like to start 1 day the first week, 2 days the next week and so on until they are full time the week the parent goes back to work. That way if I run into problems or have questions the Mom is still at home and I can call her. This is my favourite way to transition a new child and I always tell the Mom that she deserves a little time to herself before going back to work because it may be a long time until she gets a vacation.