The Hunt for The Perfect Daycare Provider

Let me begin to say that there ISN'T a perfect daycare. Adrian's perfect daycare provider would be me, but unfortunately I cannot be mommy full time. Well, I can but we would live in a cardboard box.

After taking Adrian to his current daycare provider for 3 months I began to see the turnover rate there is very high. This raised a red flag. If the employees aren't happy where they work then their unhappiness will spill over to their job. Adrian is at a stage where consistency is key. We need to count on his daycare provider being the same person every week. It's very important that the parents and the child build a good rapport with the daycare provider. How can the daycare provider learn to care for a child well if s/he has only been there a few weeks. Not only will the daycare provider not learn the nature of the child but s/he couldn't possibly love a child they barely know. There are also many other signs that Adrian may not be receiving adequate care at his current daycare provider.

For the past week I've been monitoring Craigslist and interviewing other daycare providers. This time I thought perhaps I would seek for in home daycare as opposed to daycare centers. In home daycare seems to have less kids and they offer more intimate and personalized care. I give most of the places I interviewed two thumbs down. Actually, I'm being too harsh! these place are just fine, they all have state license. At the end of last week I stumbled upon a listing for the Plato Daycare Center, in writing they sounded perfect. The daycare provider's name is Fary, an Iranian grandmother to be (she is expecting her first grand baby next March). I was immediately drawn to the pictures of her home she had posted on the website. I thought the space was charming and warm. The colors on the walls were neutral but the bright colored toys and educational posters really jazzed up the space. Adjacent to the space where the children played and dined is a small bedroom with cribs for naps. Fary has a modest fenced in backyard with a gym and other outdoor toys and swings. After speaking with her on the phone for 30 minutes we seemed to be on the same page-parenting related. Fary had great credentials. She has many years of child caring experiences. She worked in daycare centers and raised her two kids. We paid Fary a visit this past weekend and her house was immaculate. She opened the door to the nursery and I was taken back how clean the space was. No joke I would actually eat off the floor. You know me, I'm a total germaphobe and will not eat anything if it didn't land in my own plate. I felt I was going to leave a stain on her light carpet when I stepped in her home. Initially I thought she may have cleaned up for our visit but after speaking to her references they confirmed her house is always squeaky clean. I brought a list of questions I was prepared to ask Fary but after talking with her for some time I didn't even feel the need to go by the list. She is a seasoned day care provider with a long history of child care. Continuing to ask her questions from my list would be an insult to her knowledge of childcare.

So as of Nov 10th Adrian will be moving on. In short, I'm concerned about putting Adrian through this change but in the long run this is a better arrangement for our little man. Hopefully very soon he'll have a bond with Mrs. Fary. I feel relieved and look forward to working and building a new relationship with my new daycare provider. Cross your fingers she works out!

In retrospect, the handful of complaints I have with Adrian's current daycare provider is that I made a lot of assumptions. Lesson learned: Every child care provider has his or her own "style," as does every parent. Some providers are more willing than others to adjust their "style" to fit a parent's. Now I know to ask providers about their style, and to sniff out how willing a provider is to change their style to suit mine.