Hellobee

Since we moved cities, we had to start over with our childcare search. But this time we looked for home daycares instead of preschools. Daycare is so different from preschool/toddler programs because they usually mix ages and can be more free spirited and less academic. It is probably more likely to get in right away at a home daycare versus waiting around for a preschool spot to open up. Here is what I came to look for when I walked into a new daycare:

• Does it seem clean?

I was grossed out when I walked into one daycare interview and could tell right away that they do not really clean their toys. A kid walked up to me and handed me a ceramic mug (not a toy!?) that was filled with disgusting looking fur balls and dust. Um, no thanks! Coming from someone who used to sanitize and steam clean all of Baby Pencil’s toys for the first 6 months of his life, I knew the thought of him play with these dusty things would make me gag. (Don’t worry, I’ve loosened up a ton since then!)

• What is the main play area like?

The words I like to describe a good play area are open, spacious, clean, organized and warm. I have seen really cluttered looking play rooms and usually that doesn’t resonate well with me. The childrens’ space should have some sense of good order. I also say “warm” because I think it should look more like an official kids’ playroom versus being a room where someone just dumped a bunch of random toys. I love those inviting, educational wall and floor decorations to get kids excited to be somewhere other than home.

• What is the sleeping situation like?

There are things I never considered before, such as whether they sleep with shoes on or off, if someone actually takes the sand out of their shoes before they sleep, if there’s air conditioning on hot days and so on. I’d like to think as long as it looks like they’re sleeping on something clean and the environment is somewhat dim then it would suffice. I have seen Baby Pencil sleep on the ground of a very bright and noisy room, but I generally like the idea of providing the best sleep scenario possible because he tends to be 35% crazier when he doesn’t nap well!

• What does the back yard look like?

Some yards are filled with construction, dust, dangerous contraptions and isn’t the most child friendly environment. What I’d love to see is a neatly set up back yard area, completely closed in, has some shade and is taken care of very well.

• What is the temperament of the other children that are already there?

The daycare kids are going to be around your kids 5 days a week, so I think it’s important to somewhat observe the nature of the other children! For example, I visited one daycare when an older child was playing with this battery charged toy that could very well hit a kid’s face. And of course, he went over and put it in front a kid’s face and hit them in the eye. I know there’s nothing that can be done if your kids are around more aggressive kids, but it’s something to note if you witness some monstrous incident. In another situation, I took Baby Pencil to a place where a little girl went straight up to him, took his hand and led him to play. It was the cutest and sweetest thing ever!

• Do they watch any TV? If so, how much?

This was kind of bad how we found out, but I stumbled upon a tiny TV in the corner of our daycare one day when I randomly had to come inside. I had no idea there was ANY TV watching, so my husband asked how much they watch TV. Turns out they watch TV twice a day, which to me is already too much! We would prefer the kids watching zero TV, but since they were already going to this daycare there wasn’t much we could do. I communicated my distaste for it, but left it as is since that was the routine of the daycare.

• Is the daycare owner/manager very good at communicating?

This is so important! Because, what the heck do these kids do all day? Other than the chaos of picking them up and dropping them off, I have no idea what goes on behind the doors. Some daycares will actually post pictures on a private Facebook group for the parents or send text messages all day. Love that idea! You can get a general idea of their schedule, but it still doesn’t really tell you what they did that day. My usual questions are “did he sleep? did he eat? how much? did he poop?” And then I’m out the door. I wish I could hear more things like, if he had a good day or if he did something funny that day.

On the flipside, here are the things that didn’t really matter to me:

• They have a terrible looking website

So they’re not website people…. I don’t care! As long as they are reputable and are good at their job, a bad website won’t alter my decision.

• It’s slightly more expensive

I’ve noticed there can be a price difference of about $50-75 per month, depending on the quality of the daycare. I would think it’s worth it for your stress level sake to go with the nicer place.

• They don’t cook organic

I get it, not everyone can afford organic. Most daycares only provide 1 meal: lunch. Meaning that I can still feed them organic for breakfast and dinner. I know everyone’s decision to organic food and cooking is to each their own, but I’ve learned that I probably can’t keep up with this organic way forever. If everything that reaches Baby Pencil’s stomach isn’t organic, I’m OK with that.

• They ask for more pay to potty train

This is pretty standard, so I don’t consider it that big of a deal. The extra potty training fees can be up to $100 per month.

• The commute is not as great

This was a hard decision but in the end, we chose the 15 minute commute daycare versus the 5 minute commute one. Sure, it’s rough on those traffic jam days when it ends up being more like 20-25 minutes, but after visiting so many daycares, I definitely think it’s worth it.

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What have you all learned from your daycare searches?