Tia's Going to School

Friday, October 30, 2009 – Day 229

We went and looked at child care facilities. I've been doing some research and had narrowed it down to the the top few places that we wanted to look at. Chris and I took a half day and went and met with the places we had picked. We went to the Goddard School in Fenton and we loved what we saw and heard, but they did not have an opening until November of 2010. The Goddard school in Fenton is the perfect location because it is on my way to work on HWY 141 and it is within 5 minutes of Chris's work. Then we went and met with La Petite Academy just around the corner from Goddard in Fenton. It didn't have that wow affect we had with Goddard, but it definitely was under consideration because of the location and it was a bit cheaper than Goddard. There were a few negatives but nothing that was a deal breaker. Our last stop was the Goddard School in Arnold. It is 10 minutes from our house, BUT an hour from my work and it would be very difficult for me to get there before they closed every day IF Chris wasn't able to pick up our little girl. The plan has been for me to drop her off and Chris to pick her up every day. We walked into the Goddard in Arnold and were in love. It was awesome and they had an opening too. We could start at the Goddard in Arnold and then move to the one in Fenton in November. The other downfall to this is that we plan to move early next year and being stuck until November would not coincide with our plans for child care places in Arnold.

The Goddard School in Arnold just had everything we had hoped for and it really impressed both of us. I loved when we walked in, Chris mumbled so I could hear 'I already love this place better' and I had to agree. It was bigger, brighter and had a gorgeous layout both inside and outside than the Goddard in Fenton. Don't get me wrong, the Fenton location is great too - but it is an older building and not as much land to work with. The Goddard Schools are franchised and so under different managements you get different rules and stipulations. There were a couple things the Goddard School in Arnold had that were more in line with our goals than the one in Fenton. Just so many pluses for Arnold Goddard School that we were even joking that we may have to stay in Arnold for longer.

But with all things, sometimes things happen for a reason. The Director who was giving us the tour of the Goddard School in Arnold said 'we are opening one in Ballwin and I'll be going to be the Director of that one'. I immediately was overjoyed and excited, but apprehensive as I asked the questions 'does the Ballwin location open soon and do they have any openings'...and both answers were perfect. They were opening in January of 2010 and they had one opening. I looked at Chris and he already knew what I was thinking. Ballwin is the area we are hoping to move to and it would be the perfect location for day care, plus we have family and friends in that area that could always help out if we needed to pick-up/drop-off, etc.

What I love about the Goddard Schools is that infants don't share cribs. They only have 8 spots in the infant room and we can decorate our baby's crib with our own sheets, mobile, etc. Plus, it felt so safe and clean in the infant room. I had no doubt that our baby would get the safe care that she needed and at such an early age. What is also nice about the Ballwin opening is that it is going to be the exact same size and layout as the Arnold one. It will have the same rules and policies and amenities. It just sounded perfect. Since there are only 8 spots, I also know that not only will the last spot go quick, but once they are gone, it would be very difficult to get in there in the future.

Chris and went home and talked it over and the next morning, we drove up there with the contract and check and signed up our little girl. With this school, I have no worries about leaving her for the day to go to work when I'm back from maternity leave. Chris feels the same way. Woo Hoo, our little girl is going to school. The other thing I loved about Arnold is that every teacher had a degree and CE in education. This is not common with other child care places. Plus they are one of the only accredited schools and offer infant care to Kindergarten care. Since Ballwin will follow the same pattern as Arnold, we are confident they will be working on that same status.

I drove to work as if I would be dropping Tia off at the Goddard School in Ballwin, and it was perfect! I'm excited!