Back to School

In my head I am singing the song on Billy Madison..."back to school, back to school, gonna prove to dad I'm not a fool...got my lunch all packed and my shoes tied tight...hope I don't get in a fight OHHHH back to school...."



I'm not really going back to school, I'm just going back to the Goddard School today, this time with Austin, and therefore the song has been stuck in my head all morning.



Did I write about the school last week? I don't think I blogged after I visited. Please hold while I go check...

Ok, I won't be repeating information here, good thing.

On Friday during my lunch break I went over to the Goddard School to take a tour. Before Friday, I had never actually been inside a day care before - so I wasn't sure what to expect. I met Ron, the owner, and Theresa, the director, first and we sat down to talk a little bit about me, my pregnancy, what I'm looking for in a day care, etc. They were very friendly, and I think if I wanted to Ron would have sat with me all day answering questions. Once we had talked a little bit, he walked me to the infant room where I met the teachers. There were 3 teachers and 5 babies. Generally there are anywhere from 5-9 babies, just depends on the day. Some babies only come 4 days a week, some may take a day off to be with grandparents, etc, so I caught them on a lower attendance day. The teachers were all sitting on the floor playing with the infants - some were learning to walk and some were still too young for that, so the teachers were playing with them depending on where they were. Amy, one of the teachers, got up to show me around the room. She showed me the board where announcements are posted, an example of the daily report that is sent home with each baby reporting any developmental milestones for the day, the best part of their day, what they ate, how much they slept, etc. She showed me each baby's individual cubbie where personal items are kept, their individual cribs, the fridge where formula and/or breastmilk is kept, the diaper changing station, the toy sanitation tubs that are used anytime a toy is on the ground or in a baby's mouth...lots to see in a small room. The teachers were very friendly, asked how far along I was, if we knew if it was a boy or girl, what the name was, etc. The entire time I was in there the teachers continued to occupy the babies while they talked to me. After we left the infant room Ron showed me the toddler rooms (let me just say there is a HUGE leap in messiness between the 1-2 year olds and the 2-3 year olds...those kids are wild!) I saw the kitchen, the playground, all the different classrooms, and we arrived back in Ron's office. We talked awhile more, talking about how he ended up in Colorado, his time in the military, Austin's deployments, how we like Colorado, etc. I looked down at my watch and realized I had taken a 1.5 hour lunch break, when I had told my boss it'd be "real quick".

Yesterday I went to parker landing development center, and the experience was very different. While they offer the same level of cleanliness, they cost the same, the student:teacher ratio is the same...it was a different atmosphere. First of all, no one was interested in knowing me as the parent. No one remembered my name, no one asked any particular questions about me or even the pregnancy. The receptionist escorted me to the Infant 1 room...the infants are split up into 2 rooms based on whether or not they are mobile. The rooms mirror each other, the only difference being that in the first room there are bouncers and swings where in the second room there are play mats and more interactive toys. Baby's have their own cribs, their own cubbies - and they do record the amount of food and sleep each baby gets, just no notes on developmental steps or special moments in the day. The rooms were very clean, the teachers were kind - but there wasn't much interaction going on. In the younger room there were 6 babies awake, 3 teachers, and not one teacher was interacting in any way with a baby. In the second room there were 5 babies in high chairs, though only 2 were eating, and 2 babies playing on the floor but again - no teacher interaction. Once I had finished looking in the rooms and meeting the teachers it wasn't offered that I see the rest of the school, and the director of the school got right to business: "So do you want to get on our wait list?" I was so caught off guard. She didn't ask my thoughts, if I had any questions, she hardly even introduced herself before asking about the wait list. I asked a few questions, though I didn't feel they were welcomed very well, and then I felt quickly rushed out the door.

While the basics between the two are the same, there is something to be said not only for the child interaction, but for the interest in knowing the parents. I loved that at the Goddard school the teachers really took an interest in knowing each child individually and not witnessing, but being a part of their growth and development. I also received a hand written note from the owner of Goddard in the mail Monday that said he enjoyed meeting me and learning about William, looks forward to meeting Austin, and hopes he can have a part in enhancing William's development. The people at Parker Landing never asked if we were having a boy or girl, and I doubt they'd remember 2 seconds after I walked out the door even if they had.

Today Austin came down to go see Goddard. There were more babies than last week, but all the teachers were still involved and each baby was receiving some sort of interaction. One baby LOVED that visitors had just walked in the room and he was very entertaining...he might have distracted me from our purpose for being there. Austin doesn't like how rigid day care centers are on their hours - but they couldn't run a successful, functional business if they didn't have those guidelines. He did like the teachers a lot and he loved how they interacted with the babies. One teacher was sitting at a table that has 4 built in chairs. There were babies in each of the 3 chairs and she was feeding them. She talked to them as she fed them, made facial expressions back at them, pointed out colors...all things you should do with infants. Overall, we're pretty pleased. I think Austin was most shocked at how close it is to my work - I had told him it was 2 minutes away, but I don't think he realized it really was, literally, 2 minutes (which includes the time it takes to walk to my car)

Our next step is to take the deposit (insert sinking feeling in stomach) and sign the enrollment form. At that point the owner will give us our "guarantee" date. He estimated that, as of today, it would be August 1. In the event that something changes they will call and let me know that I'd have the option of bringing William earlier. In the event that we already have arrangements we're pleased with for June and July, they will still hold our crib at no cost until August 1, but if we'd like to change our arrangements the option would be there. I like their wait-list policy better than other places because it gives me a dead-set time that I can rely on, whether than just waiting until March to find out what I'm doing with William.

I'm not sure what we'll plan for June and July as of now. We've talked about taking him to the Parker Landing center, if they are available, or to the child care center on base (picture me sticking my tongue out and making a disgusted look on my face). Or if someone reading this has decided to take a 2 month hiatus from work next summer but would like to come up here and, in fact, work - I'd be all about that :) We'll figure something out...we have time...but we're one step closer :)