My stepdaughter is five (will be turning six in August). She has been going to the same daycare provider since she was around two. I think it's great that her dad/my boyfriend has found people he trusts and likes, but I think there are some questionable policies and procedures with this daycare. For the record, I also think she should be in preschool but her dad kind of dropped the ball on that one.I first started having doubts this past summer, when I found out their contract states that you must be with them on a year-to-year basis. If you break the contract before the year is up, they state that they will take legal action (implying that they will sue you). I found this to be pretty bizarre. I'm no expert on childcare, but any provider I have ever dealt with only has a policy that you must give notice two weeks prior to ending the contract. I have never seen a provider require a specific length of time. Maybe that's normal; maybe they just have it in there to protect themselves; maybe they won't really sue you and are just trying to scare people into staying with them. I don't know, but I don't agree with it. I think it's odd. It's not an apartment lease. It's childcare. What happens if you have to, say, relocate for work? Or if you are just straight up unhappy with the care they provide?So, that is one thing that I find strange. Here is another: last week they had the "Paths to Quality" folks coming in to do an evalutaion/review/whatever. They asked my boyfriend, three days before the review, if he could keep his daughter home that day. Why wouldn't they want all of the kids there on the day of the review? I saw this as a huge red flag because, to me, it says that they have something to hide from the reviewers. Maybe they have too many kids for the number of caregivers? I just think there is something very fishy about that. Not only that, but it's not cool to give such short notice on something like that. I don't think it's right to expect parents to have to miss work to convenience the daycare provider.The third thing is that I think these people are germaphobes or something. Recently, my stepdaughter came down with pinkeye. As expected, they sent her home. What they told my boyfriend is that she could return as long as she started the antibiotics. That is what I would expect. That is how my daughter's school does it. But what was odd is that, the same day that was said, the lady who runs the daycare took it back and started saying she shouldn't come back until the infection cleared. I get that they don't want sick kids running around but they should have been clear on their policy. Not only that but, from my understanding, bacterial pinkeye is no longer considered contagious 24 hours after starting the eye drops.Then there was the incident with lice. This has been going on for the past two weeks. Last week, they called and said she had to be picked up due to having lice. No problem. We'll bring her home, get her treated, send her back. So that is what we did. Then, yesterday, they called again saying she still had lice and needed to be sent home again. Again, no problem. They don't want to spread lice. I understand that. Here is the problem: The lady texted last night and said that she could not return until "every single nit is gone".Seriously?? Lice is really not a big deal. I mean, it's not great but it's not as easy to spread as people think. And, especially after treatment, the chance of it spreading because there are a few nits here and there is practically zero. I don't think it is at all fair to expect parents to have to miss work because a kid has nits.Luckily, I only work weekends so keeping her home isn't a big deal. It really only bothers me because I feel, with her age and personality, she can't get used to staying home all the time. I think she needs to be around other kids, staying busy during the day. And this is a kid who pretty much defines the phrase "give her an inch and she'll take a mile". So, if she gets to stay home a couple of days, she's going to want to do it every day. She's also going to be starting kindergarten next year and I think it's very important to get her used to the fact that she has to attend school every day unless she is genuinely sick.So, those are my gripes with these people. I'm mostly bothered that they seem to have this attitude of "If we don't want to take care of the kid, we won't". Maybe I am overreacting or there is something I don't understand, but I don't think they should exclude her over conditions that, while unpleasant, aren't highly contagious. And they especially shouldn't ask that she be kept home because it is a convenience to them. Honestly, if it was my decision, I would have started looking for a new provider the day they asked she not attend because they had a review. Unless, of course, the reviewers expect the facility to be child-free on that day. But I doubt that is the case. Wouldn't they want to see kids there and see how the providers care for them? The way I see it, that would be like me going to work and saying "I don't want to take care of these patients today because I might catch their cold, but I still want to get paid for it".Anyway, I think I am going to start pushing my boyfriend to look for an actual preschool program for her to get into. Right now it really is a daycare, with most of the kids being toddlers, and I don't think there is much in the way of learning going on. I don't want to sound pushy or come across as "my way is right", but I just really do think it would be beneficial to her to go somewhere with more structure and a more educational environment to help prepare her for kindergarten. He always says he wants me to be a parent to her; well, those are my views as a parent so if he expects me to treat her as my own (which I do) then I think he should be willing to accept my opinion on these matters. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2ogULxs
