A Daycare that Spoils. (In A Good Way!)

Way back in August I posted about Kylie's new daycare and how good things were going.  Well, it's late January and it is still good!!  Yeah, we've had a couple of ughs.  Like biting.  But, when you take a toy away from someone, you probably should expect to be bit. 

By and large, Kylie's "school" is awesome.  Like every other daycare, I wish it had a more "homey" feel, but the facility is clean, there are plenty of toys, the curriculum is great and Kylie is happy.

Why is she happy?  It's the staff!!  They are incredible.  All of them.  I'm sure that the few staff in my pictures would be just thrilled to know that their pics are on my blog, but too bad.  :)

Kylie's teachers, Tara and Paige love on her everyday.  They offered to get Kylie ready for me in the mornings since she gets their early. So most mornings, they get her dressed, fix her hair in braids or ponytails and this last week, they even added teaching her how to brush her teeth!!! Yeah Baby!!

Here is Kylie and Tara. Tara would be mortified at Kylie's hair.  It is always fixed perfectly when I pick her up. But these pictures were taken at the Christmas party so they had other things going on that day!

This next picture is of Tara, Paige and Tate. 

Tate, the lady you can barely see, wearing glasses is a director?? Not sure. She's always there, always smiling, runs the front desk and takes Kylie many mornings all wrapped in a blanket and cuddles her! 

It is so nice to see my sweet child being loved on by the people that take care of her everyday!

What's even better about Kylie's school?  It's not just these ladies, it's April and another Paige and countless other hard workers that make Kylie's day special.  They know that Kylie doesn't eat meat, so they give her extra helpings of fruit.  One day, one of the teachers even pulled apart the lasagna so that Kylie would eat the noodles!

And lastly, since one would think I am a commerical for them, they are teaching Kylie the fundamentals of reading and math.  The two year old class isn't just play, she is learning to love reading and knows her colors and numbers and letters. 

So, there you have it.  If you are looking at childcare, take a few minutes to visit different schools at different times of the day. Ask lots of questions and look at the kids.  Yes, there are ALWAYS nasty snotty noses.  That's just one of the perks you get when you get more than 2 or 3 kids together! Ask if they have video cameras in the classrooms. We have that and can log in and watch our kids play!  I can't remember to and don't have time too, but you can bet that if there was a problem or I was concerned I would in a heartbeat! And lastly, watch the interactions of the staff.  The workers should work as a team, if they are not, ask who is doing all the work and wonder what happens if that worker leaves.  Would your child have the same experience if that person were not there? Some daycare's have really high turnover rates and you want to know if your child's classroom is going to be in constant upheaval.

Hey, and if you happen to live in my area and look at this daycare, tell em you read about them on my blog.  Maybe I'll get a referral discount! :)

The Hardest Part of Being a Working Mom

In case you didn't know, being a working mom is hard!  There are so many decisions that a mom agonizes over when it comes work and family.  But hands down the HARDEST PART OF BEING A WORKING MOM IS CHILDCARE!!!

This has been a constant strain, struggle and cause of sleepless nights in our house for the last eleven years.  Crazy isn't it. 

Maddie was born in May 4, 2000 and since I'm a teacher, I had off until we want back to school after summer. That was July 28, 2000. That marks the begining of our journey with daycare.  And here we are in 2011 still enjoying the world of childcare.

Kylie started at a local daycare on Monday.  I have to say, I'm really not the greatest fan of daycare centers.  I like a homey feel.  I like my little one being with just a couple other kids and a mom/grandma. 

But sometimes in-home settings don't work out really well and sometimes the loved grandma-type retires!  So after looking around a while we decided on a facility that we felt comfortable with. They have an awesome schedule and after years of working around challenging in-home care schedules, it is really nice to have consistent hours.

Here is Kylie on Monday morning on her first day of "school."

Isn't she soooo cute!  She was happy to go and did great!  In fact, I waited to write this post as I wanted to get the whole week in so if we had any major issues, I could report them!

But thankfully, no problems.  Kylie played well, she napped, she ate and never cried.  I would say that is a good week!!

Believe me, I know we will have problems, that is the nature of childcare, but here is the recap of the things I liked about the week.  (And yes, I will have to look back at the post sometime in the future to remind myself I am sure..)

1. I love the fact that a staff member greeted my child and made her comfortable every morning.  They were genuinely (or great fakers) happy to see her and made my departure seem natural!
2. I appreciate the fact that my child's teacher is with her all day.  No mid-day teacher changes!
3. I LOVE the watchmegrow.com video cameras!! It makes me feel like I am involved when I can ask about the interactions that I can see on camera. 
4. I am grateful for the daily report pages that tell me what was for lunch, how long my child napped, and when diaper changes occured and other sundry items. This makes me feel like I am a part of my child's day.

Being that I am not a newbie, I know that things will not always be great, but I do know that the first week is vital in a childcare setting.  Kylie is happy and doing great.  That means the world to me.

Interestingly, this facility is owned by a couple of "momswhoknow" and I think it makes a difference.  If you have never had to leave your child in daycare, be thankful.  If you have, you understand what I mean when I say what a relief it is to know that Kylie is safe and happy.  Truly, one of the greatest gifts to a parent is not having to leave your child crying while you go to work.  Cause I'm sorry, it doesn't matter that "she only cries for a minute." And telling me that "as soon as you leave she stops crying" doesn't make my heart hurt any less.  

 Hopefully, this is just the begining of a great childcare relationship!