Switching Daycares
As working parents, one of the things my husband and I have to take very seriously is childcare. You can’t trust just anyone with your child. You must consider whether they will be safe, happy, and healthy with whoever will be watching your little ones. That’s why my husband and I decided to enroll our daughter in the daycare she currently attends. We’d heard great things about it; their facility is large, reputable, and all the kids are learning things a year ahead of their grade level (according to the director of the school, at least). It is part of a private elementary school, which we would be able to enroll our daughter in when the time comes, which we liked. The price reflects these qualities. We have been paying nearly $1,400 for a year, and that number will soon increase. That is well above the average daycare price for a 2-year-old in Florida ($700-$1,000 per month), but we’ve paid it happily because we conflated a higher price with high quality.
When we first enrolled Bebe in daycare, we were as happy as could be. I had been skeptical about daycare before enrolling her due to some horror stories I’d heard from others, but this facility made us feel comfortable right away. The daycare teachers were fantastic, the facility was squeaky clean, it didn’t have that ~daycare smell~ that some facilities have, and the toddler space was huge. Bebe loved it, too. Developmentally, she took off - her verbal skills improved greatly, she learned how to socialize with other kids, and she learned how to accept instructions from other adults. This positive experience with daycare continued for several months.
However, things started to change when Bebe outgrew the toddler section of the daycare. When she was moved to the “pre-school” section (for 2-4 year olds), our positive experience began to degrade. All of a sudden, teachers were leaving left and right, and the daycare became short-staffed. The new teachers we were encountering weren’t necessarily as personable or as experienced as the toddler teachers. My husband and I discussed certain issues with the director more than once.
On one occasion, my mother picked up my daughter from daycare and, after leaving, discovered that Bebe wasn’t wearing a diaper. As a result, she peed on herself in public, and my mom didn’t have extra clothes with her. We were livid about that.
Second, we came to find out that one of the newer teachers was telling the kids that there was a “monster” outside the door of their classroom, to prevent the kids from trying to leave. For me, this violation was even worse - this time, someone intentionally did something wrong. Although I recognize that keeping 2-4-year-olds in the same place isn’t always easy, telling those children that there is a monster rises to the level of nefarious. Not surprisingly, Bebe was very scared of this “monster” for weeks until we were able to convince her, through repetition, that no such monster exists. I don’t know if that teacher did anything else wrong, but she wasn’t around too long after this incident.
The final straw was the cameras. When we chose this daycare, one of the deciding factors was the fact that they have cameras in each classroom, which we were able to view all day long. We didn’t want to be overbearing, but since Bebe couldn’t talk very much when we first enrolled her, we wanted to have some reassurance that she would be okay and not be mistreated. It is so often the case that a child is treated differently behind closed doors versus in front of their parents. We knew we couldn’t be glued to the cameras all day long, but felt they would make a great accountability tool.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago, the school changed its camera system, including changing to a new third-party security company. Part of the change that came with this was making it so that parents would only have access to the cameras for 1 hour a day. I found this to be bizarre because so many of the kids, if not most of them, spend 8+ hours a day in daycare while their parents work. So, only being able to see your small child for a total of 1 hour per day didn’t sit right with me. However, since Bebe talks much more fluently now and can recount her day to us, that wouldn’t have necessarily been a deal breaker. The deal breaker was that we were paying just as much for a feature of the school that was now limited. We discussed this grievance with the director, who assured us that she would be able to adjust the tuition.
Fast forward to now, the tuition was never adjusted, and we are now going to transfer Bebe to another daycare. This wasn’t an easy decision for us - we understand all too well the importance of consistency and realize that Bebe may not understand why she can’t see some of her friends or teachers anymore. That fact alone might have dissuaded me from agreeing to move her, but she toured the new daycare with us and seems very excited about it.
While no daycare is perfect, we are looking forward to a few things about this new daycare. First, it’s within walking distance of my husband’s office. Therefore, should an emergency arise, he will be right there. Second, it’s a smaller facility, and we are hopeful that the smaller size will equate to less bureaucracy and more of a “family” environment. Finally, because of the smaller size, the tuition is significantly less. There are no cameras, but they do send updates through an app, which can include photos throughout the day.
Although our experience with the first daycare facility eventually went south, I learned a few things. First, it’s important to pay close attention and be a “squeaky wheel” when you need to be. When you speak up (respectfully, of course), then people in charge know that you’re not willing to accept everything they throw your way. Second, it’s okay to be a villain sometimes. I used to think that, as a consumer, I had to be ultra-polite all the time, no matter the circumstances. But under some of the circumstances I described above, we simply couldn’t be nice. Finally, I learned that it’s okay to change your mind, start over somewhere new, and allow your children to adjust to a big change. I don’t know if Bebe will struggle when she moves to the new facility, but I know that she is resilient and will (hopefully) feel at home in no time.
XOXO, Alexis.