[speaker001:] Hello, my name is Donna, and I'm calling from Plano, Texas.
[speaker002:] Hi, this is Laurie, and I'm in Garland [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh, okay. Um, would you like me to go first?
[speaker002:] Sure.
[speaker001:] Okay, um I have three children, um, two, two who are in regular school, uh, eleven year old, an eight year old, and then my little one, three year old, is in, um, a University of Gymnastics, it's a, a preschool
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, um, I think it was really hard to, um, to pick the right, uh, day care or preschool or Mother's Day Out. I guess you can classify them all together.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Um, some of the qualifications that I look for was that, uh, you know, the cost, and, um, exactly what they did, if it was structured or nonstructured, if they had a little academic, um, uh, in there, and, um, you know, um, you know, what the qualifications of the teachers' were, and if the place was clean and
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] um, the hours and, um, just, just kind of going by word of mouth and finding out if anybody else has been pleased with their program
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] that kind of stuff.
[speaker002:] Well, we don't have any children, but we're going to have one next year [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh, congratulations.
[speaker002:] Thanks. So, um, that's something that I'm probably going to be looking at
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] maybe in the future. We haven't quite decided if I'm going to, I'm working part time now, and I don't know if I'll be doing that or what we're going to do.
[speaker001:] Or staying home.
[speaker002:] But if we do, then I'm going to need to find somebody, and our church has a Mother's Day Out program
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] which they started last year, and we know a lot of people at the church so I would feel very confident with leaving
[speaker001:] That's a very good place to start I think.
[speaker002:] my child there [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Yeah, the Mother's Day Out programs, and that's where Shannon had started, in a Mother's Day Out program
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, uh, the churches always have I think, a, a pretty good program, and you have to make sure that you, um, that you apply pretty early, because they do have, a lot of places have very long waiting lists.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And, um, and another question to ask is if they're, um, state certified
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] um, you know, if the teachers have, um, their Master's degree in, in child education and
[speaker002:] Uh-huh
[speaker001:] um, child development. Um, you know, what, what kind of a structure is it going to be. Um, when your child's a little bit older, like a three year old
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you'd be more concerned with if there's a type of care that it's torture for them to lay down and take a nap. Is there like a mandatory nap time?
[speaker002:] Time, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] What they do at Shannon's school is have a video tape going, and if, and they lay on these little mats, and if they fall asleep, they kind of let them sleep, and the teacher stays with the sleeping ones, and the other ones get up and go do something else.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] So, she doesn't have to necessary take a nap there
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] you know, which is, which is nice. Um.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Um, you know, it's kind of scary, I guess, because you hear so many bad things about day cares
[speaker001:] That's true.
[speaker002:] lately, and so, it's, I guess it's such a growing concern, but then there's a lot of good things you don't hear.
[speaker001:] Right. And sometimes when the child's a lot younger, before they're really, um, before three years old, you know, like the church is a good program and sometimes you even consider, um, you know, having a private person come to your own home when they're real little or
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] or something like that, and another consideration is how many infants or children are they, what's the ratio of, of teachers to
[speaker002:] To children.
[speaker001:] to children
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] because that makes, a, a, a difference, and if your child would be maybe sleeping in that crib all day, just your child, and, or do they just put any child in any crib
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you know, you would want, maybe, your child to have their own sheets all the time, and not have another
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] child use that bed
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] you know. I'm sure that, um, whatever you decide, you'll be happy with.
[speaker002:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And it's exciting time to have a new one [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah. We're pretty excited.
[speaker001:] I bet. That's, that's wonderful.
[speaker002:] Yeah, but that, you know, we have been thinking about that, but it's a little ways off in the future
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] but, um, I figure, you know, I'd probably start asking
[speaker001:] Asking.
[speaker002:] around at church
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] because I know they have a limit as to how old they can be before they, you know, before you can bring them in.
[speaker001:] Some, some places, um, start them as early as, I think, well, some, some places take them as infants, I guess, you know, like eight weeks, even.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Um, there's a place to look into, um, um, a friend of mine who's a nurse is, was telling about a wonderful new place that opened some place in, on Fifteenth Street, up, it's in Plano somewhere where, um, nurses that used to work in the hospital take care of infants, infants and then only up to like two years old
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] and it's, it's supposed to be really a, a, you know, some places just specialize in just real little ones
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] and then other ones, uh, are the older children.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But it is a difficult situation, I think. When they're, when they're little it's almost easier to leave them because when they're three and they're cry,