DayCare Center or Disneyland?

[G-Benz]

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!

[BENZ-LGB]

Actually, my wife says that I am ALREADY a kid....

One piece of advice G-BENZ. Ask the owner what kind of background check they run on the center's employees, from teachers to gardeners. If the sub-contract any of the work, what background checks do the principals run.

Don't let him get away with saying "we check everyone." Ask him to give you specific details regarding the nature of the background check, who they hired to run the background check and how often and how thorough employees and subs are checked.

Also, ask him what kind of policies the center has regarding unsupervised adult-child contact. Are adults allowed to be alone with a child, at any point in time? Talk to the people who will have primary responsibility for your kids. Do they pass the parental-smell-test?

I hate to be a wet-blanket, but I've prosecuted too many of these cases. You can't ever be too careful or too worried when it comes to kids.

[G-Benz]

Fortunately, when my wife arrived to check out this newly-opened facility, the manager immediately recognized her and asked about our daughter. He used to manage a day care center that our daughter previously attended. He is using the same guidelines he learned at the other daycare as far as staffing and policies.

This eased our minds as we too, found over the years that price is not a good barometer in determining best child care practices.

Our daughter has attended some really beautiful facilities over the years, but we discovered a few that were passive in addressing incidents that could have ultimately wound up in court.

School starts in our area on Aug. 5th, but the center won't open until the 12th. We will check out who is part of the staff, but are already familiar with many of them...refugees from the other day care center. Many times, when a favored boss leaves for greener pastures, a few of the loyal subjects are asked to come join the fray...

Actually, the homework tutor is my daughter's favorite day care worker from the other facility. This is good...maybe she will get some homework done!

Thanks for the tips!