We all know that finding a daycare here in Vancouver is a special sort of hell. Stories of signing up on waiting lists before you even start TTCing are whispered in the halls at work, and woe behold any mom naiive enough to wait until a month before she needs care and expect to find a safe or affordable spot at all, unless she can afford thousands for a nanny.
That said, I think it's really important to be crystal clear about what your expectations of a care provider are. If you are going to be spending more than the average mortgage payment a month on something, better make sure it's what you want, eh?
Today's post is a step in unpacking those personal expectations, and then finding the appropriate questions to ensure they are communicated and agreed upon before leaving a child in care. You would assume that many of these are obvious things everyone would include, but you know what they say about assumptions...
For me? I would be looking for the following:
Someone who has experience and knowledge to safely and appropriately care for my children while I am at work or otherwise engaged. If not in my own home, someone who has the physical space to do so as well.
I'm happy with any type of experience, really... Be that being eldest in a large family, ECE certification, teaching certification, or being a mother with the same type of parenting styles that I choose. No experience with children? Not Acceptable. Not having first aid? Not Acceptable. If they are providing care outside of my own home, I would also inspect the premises for safety hazards and adequate room for number of kids present.
Someone who cares about my child, and will take the time to be kind to them, and to model correct behavior. Someone who makes my child feel welcome in their home.
You think this would be true of people working with children, but it
really isn't. Daycare is a business, like any other, for many. I remember my own experience with a family in home care
provider. Her biological children were kings; allowed in different parts
of the house without us during daycare hours with the provider, while
we were left on our own in the "daycare kids room" during all the hours that weren't meal time and mandatory "herd the kids outside into the fenced grass area for an hour" time.
Note that this type of care meets the first point, as she had the skills and certifications to care for us, but
certainly not this second point.
Someone who will actually interact with my child and actively care for them. This includes potty training/encouragement to work through their emotions, and to learn about the world around them.
Again, you think this isn't asking for much, but the number of at home care situations in which everyone just watches t.v., or the provider pretty much ignores the children until screaming starts isn't a small one.
Someone who can work around my changing start times/end times (M-F still though) and ensure my child has care when she needs it. I work shift work, and this is essential for me to keep my job and put food on the table.
Yes, this will be inconvenient, having some variation to the drop off times. I'm perfectly willing to pay extra, if necessary, to do early drop-off, if the centre's hours aren't included in those times. I will ideally find a situation where the odd weekend and evening will be able to be covered too, in order for me to attend work and not have to find a second care provider to patch the holes, so to speak.
Someone who has a fixed rate for full time care, with transparent financial requirements.
I don't want to have to deal with hidden fees, nonsensical fees, or sudden unannounced fee hikes. I don't want to have to sign a contract thinking that I'm paying for "Full Time Care, Monday to Friday" in a centre that is open 0600 to 1800, and then find out that "Full Time Care" only allows six hours per day, or adds extra fees if my child stays beyond eight hours. Let's face it people, even if you work a normal eight hour shift, yes, you may need ten hours in order to include transportation time to and fro from work, let alone stopping for groceries or the potential of having to stay late until the next shift arrives. Heck, you may need that single hour to YOURSELF to recharge before switching hats. I would expect a daycare provider to not judge me for that, as long as I was really clear about pick up times and it was well within daycare hours.
Second point to this: If there is a standard fee for early drop off beyond the usual centre hours? Awesome. I'll pay it. What I'm not looking for is to play the game some care providers play, when they keep jacking up the fee to passive aggressively say that they don't want to continue doing it. Just say no already, and I'll find another care provider who will. Communication, right?
So that's that, in a nut shell, what this SMC Thinker would be looking for, bare bones, in a care provider.
What would you look for?
What did you focus on looking for for children you currently have, and what would you look for next time?
What did you pay (and where/which centres?) for care providers that met these requirements?
Next up? Non-standard questions to ask in interviews to find out if these are qualities a daycare centre actually has.
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