Child care decisions I could do without

We went to look at a nursery last week and I left feeling rather depressed. I really do not want to put our child in day care but if we want to move to another house we need both salaries coming into the house. The first nursery we looked at was right near Steve’s work so would be very handy. However, first impressions were not good as I lost trust before I even walked out the door after our visit. We were showed around the nursery and although it seemed cleaned there was a lack of noise for a nursery. There was no music or singing and I found that odd. The rooms in the nursery were divided into age’s groups. In the two to three room the children are pretty much left to play on their own, although there are staff around. We were told the children are left to entertain themselves to get them ready for school. I was a little upset at seeing a little girl stood all on her own crying and looking so sad. My heart was torn and this child was not even mine. GOSH, I AM GOING TO BE TERRIBLE I CAN SEE IT NOW. Next, we moved to the baby room where we were greeted by about fourteen babies, and a distinct smell of nappies. There was a separate sleeping area with air conditioning and about eight cots. We were told the sheets are changed each time a baby uses the cot, and all the sterilising equipment and bottles looked extremely clean. The staff member showing us around showed us a form that is given to the parents when they pick their children up. The form describes how the child’s day was including what they ate, when they slept, and a description about the day’s activities. I was very concerned when at 10.00am in the morning I noticed the form had already been filled out for that day. I asked the staff member how they knew the child has had a nice day and eaten all their lunch when it was only 10.00am. A red-faced staff member told me that these forms are filled out whenever there is time to do them, but are changed if they are not correct. Obviously, this answer was just a cover up and that’s where my trust was lost.

I have heard other stories of the same nature from friends, and have been told this is usual practice for a lot of day cares, but frankly I think it’s awful. The whole episode makes me more determined to start my own day care where I can look after our own children and still get a salary. Of course, we cannot look into this until we find a bigger house so I am left still searching for some form of day-care until we are able to change our accommodation circumstances. I will keep you posted on my findings.