New Daycare

We searched, and searched and searched (and searched) for a daycare for Audrey last fall. I went to 10 different, totally disappointing interviews before we found the current daycare center that Audrey attends. We chose it because it purported itself as a fully eco-friendly facility serving almost exclusively organic food. After 3 months of going to this "school" 3 days a week Audrey still cries almost every time we drop her off. This, combined with the new virus she contracts every 3 weeks like clockwork (and the 3 resulting ear infections she's suffered as a result) I'll go for a place that uses a little bleach and wipes a kid's nose now and then. Everyone tells you that it "just takes time", or "it builds their immune system...". But although I've done my best not to overreact I discovered there was one more important missing element than drain cleaner and processed foods. Heart and soul.

Other small to medium disappointments have now piled up week after week. The supposedly mostly organic menu is anything but and they rarely follow what's on the menu. "Yeah, we just sort of make what we have..." which tends to be an enormous amount of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Did you know that there's high fructose corn syrup in just about everything - including good old, comforting, Campbell's tomato soup?!?!? (and graham crackers.) This type of sugar is evil in food - especially for kids - so we avoid it at the sacrifice of some of the favorites that we grew up with as kids. (No, there is not another tomato soup that tastes like that!)

Then there were the major disappointments - like how when the kids are sick no one seems to be enforcing their "non" attendance nor does anyone seem even remotely interested in wiping their snot streamed faces (hours worth are certainly built up) or washing their germ covered hands. Perhaps this is part of their paper saving techniques. I actually got funny looks from some of the providers when we were new and I would have Audrey wash her hands on exiting the building at the end of the day. There's also the issue of the sliding glass door to the play area in the back that regularly comes completely off it's track. I have outwardly complained about this on several occasions and was told that a new French door was going to be installed - now two months ago.

Each of these small and large scale disappointments has lead me to start searching around again for a different daycare. It's one thing not to be happy with their hygiene or play area, or high fructose corn syrup but to see Audrey's chest heave in upset when we tell her we're headed to school each and every time was just too much to bear.

Two weeks ago I went to two interviews. I told Bill that if I didn't have any luck with those two that I would give it a rest for a while and not become obsessed. I went to the first interview and liked some parts of it just fine but it just didn't feel like a true fit. The next day I was feeling a little doubtful about my decision to look for a new place. But when I picked Audrey up from school she was playing by herself outside, again, during a time when they were supposedly doing an art project according to the schedule. (Yes, I'm one of those parents that arrives at different times to check on this proposed schedule of guided activities.) One of the big disappointments about Audrey's current daycare is the amount of "free-play" that the kids are left to. During this time they are outside and left to their own devises with just enough teachers to keep them from killing themselves or each other. I'm all for giving the kids some freedom - but I rarely see the teachers engage the kids much during this time. No rock or stick or leaf exploration, no fun games of hide and seek. Just a line of teachers solemnly standing against a wall looking like a bunch of burn-out victims clocking through the day.

That night we went to interview #2. This one is also in a home but is sort of a cross between home based (usually 6 kids or so) and center (35 where she is now). There are 14 total in this one and Cheryl Reece, the woman who runs it, is all heart and soul. She's also a gardener and has a really lovely place - which makes me really happy. There was a sign at the door when we entered that read "Please wash your hands on arrival and departure. There are many things we like to share - germs is not one of them." Jackpot! More importantly, she has 1700 square feet of pure kid heaven! Loft rooms with cozy kid size settees and curtains for puppet shows, art rooms full of sensory tables of every shape and size with everything from dried peas to colored sand, fantastic outside play area with more toys than the current daycare and a huge main room with the greatest area for story time and show and tell. Just in one visit we saw more love poured out to these kids than I have seen in a month where Audrey is now.

WHEW. What a relief. The initial search was hard and we were excited about our choice then as well, so I hope that these good vibes don't wear off. We haven't even started at this new place yet and already we feel like family - so that's a good start. They don't serve all organic food - but we've decided there are far more important things to a child's development than that. Now we just have to wait out our obligatory paid time left at the old daycare. Audrey's been so sick with her latest ear infection that we've kept her home all week anyway - and with Grammy Carmen visiting at least we've got that option. After that it's only 2 weeks left.

And hey, Grammy wipes her nose at least twice a day whether she needs it or not! (Just kidding Grammy.)