Not sure what those of you with kids have experienced with day care centers, but we settled on one that just completed construction.
It's close to home and will pick up the kids from the local public schools in our area after school.
I took a tour of the facility yesterday and decided that I want to be a kid again!
:eek"
The lobby of the facility was done in sort of a high-tech deco flavor, and had movie posters framed with lights. There was a TV in every room wired to the same channel which was playing material from a Pioneer laserdisc player. All of the TVs were on wall mounts except for the two plasma sets in the atrium which were flush mounted! Yeah...plasma sets!
They had a homework room replete with writing supplies and had tutors available. I am hoping my daughter spends some time in there, but based on what the rest of the facility had, I doubt it!
There was a fully-equipped dance/gymnastics/karate room (yeah, they offer classes in each). My wife loved that, since our daughter is already active in gymnastics and dance (although she expressed interest in karate as well). This was nice, in that we don't have to truck her all over town for the different classes now.
Next, was the videogame room. There were about twelve setups done similarly to the gaming stores, and they had PSII, Gamecube and XBox!!! This is where I figure our daughter will be honing her skills...
Then there was an art room with easels, paint and other art supplies for those who wish to express their creative sides! It even had pottery wheels and a small kiln so your child can bring home yet another ashtray project!
There was also a computer room with several Dell workstations networked to a server. They touted internet access, but said until they find a really good filtering software, won't make it available just yet.
Moving along, there was a snack bar done in a fifties-style diner fashion. Fully stocked, always open and free for use!
Then the main play room!!! Video-arcade games, foosball, air hockey, and a huge indoor play area that rivals what you find at the fast-food joints!!!
But that's not all!
The owner led me to the theater room (WOW)!!!
4-level risers, 7.1 channel, THX-certified LCD projector theater (obviously he's into this stuff)!!! Ran it all off a Philips Pronto remote! My wife had a hard time getting me out of there as he demo'ed Star Wars!!!!
They also have a pool outside which was still under construction, but he's thinking of adding a permanent grill! And yeah, they will offer swim lessons too!
It did have a huge playgound outside, and two basketball courts, but I am guessing with the hot Texas weather, most will be playing indoors!
My wife and I were excited, as was my daughter. It will be hard to get her out of there every evening, so I guess we will pick her up at almost closing tme!
Paying for this place will be interesting, as I could make payments on a used MB otherwise!
Hope no expensive repairs come up anytime soon...
Truthfully, this was just one of many daycares we found done in this manner. One other one actually looks like a mini-mall, and the prices were close to college tuition! Ironically, even with the high cost of the day care we picked, it's on a par with the cost of the others in our area...so we are pleased!
