You Put Your Children Where?

Yes, I work.  And yes, I put my children in daycare.  It is not the evil place a lot of people think it is.  It's not like I leave my children with trolls who plop them in front of a tv all day long and feed them hot dogs and french fries.  My children don't come home with mysterious bruises and scratches or knowing dirty words.  (Those they learn from me...oops!) 

I worked in a daycare when we lived in Colorado for a little over a year in the 13-24 month toddler room so I had some experience of what to look for and what questions to ask in my research.  And boy I did a lot of research in daycares when I was pregnant with Kaitlyn.  I knew staying home wasn't an option so I wanted to leave her with someone I trusted.  I mean, I was leaving them with the most precious and special being on the planet.  I was not going to leave her with just any old daycare.  Someone gave me the website for Childcare Coordinating Council (CCC) and I used this as my only online tool.  The center that are affiliated with this group have to meet VERY strict standards to be recommended by CCC.  There was a very nifty search tool that allowed you to enter in your zip code, age requirements and number of children you were enrolling and it popped out a list of daycares that met your criteria.  There are not very many centers that take children under 1 year, so options were limited.  I checked out the local Kinder Care because it's a pretty well known name even though CCC did not have them in their system.  Not too thrilled with their prices and the location wasn't great.  I also checked out the center that is located on Jerry's company campus, but they didn't take infant.  Plus that place is dark, the rooms are small and they don't provide food.  (There were some other centers that  I checked, but most didn't meet all my criteria on my checklist.) 

The last place that I checked was in a great location, was in a brand new building and was very bright.  you have to have a swipe card to get in meaning no random strangers walking in off the street.  I fell in love right away when I saw that each classroom was had security cameras installed in them with a huge flat screen tv in front cycling through each classroom.  This meant that classrooms were being watched constantly and incidents could be replayed if ever needed.  (You always act better knowing that people are watching you.)  There are two separate play outdoor play areas and the kids get to play outside twice a day.  Food is provided once your child turns 1.  Breakfast/AM snack, Lunch, PM snack, and a late PM snack if needed.  Most days, they serve my child better food than I would at home because they have to meet very strict nutrition guidelines in order to receive funding.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun Kaitlyn has at daycare.  She is only 2 and can run you down through her day including telling you what everyone brought in for show and tell.  (She can also tell me who pushed who, who used mean words, and what the teacher did about it.)  My children do art, yes my infant has art for me to bring home, they sing, dance, participate in pretend play, and most importantly learn how to socialize and cooperate with other children their age.

This daycare is not raising my child.  I am the one who is instilling morals and values into my children; they just reinforce them.  Yes, they probably spend more time with my children during the week, but they also give me the opportunity to interact with my children in ways that I can't when I stay at home with them.  I LOVE Tyler's reaction when I walk into his classroom and he notices mommy.  I LOVE hearing Kaitlyn scream "mommy!" as she races to greet me across the playroom.  I know that they take great care of my children because they don't cry or have a fit when they are dropped off.  Kaitlyn talks about everything that happened during the day and I love to hear her stories.  She's learning so much more about cooperation and being a good friend than I could teach her at home alone.  Tyler is flourishing and is still the happiest baby in the world.

So for all you people who think I'm dropping my kids off at hell with Satan...BITE ME!