Adventure Kids Playcare

I was set to start my first quarter at Seattle Pacific University in January 2013, at that time my daughter was 4 months old. So of course finding good care for her was my first priority. Because I knew if I wasn't comfortable with whomever is taking care of her, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on my studies. luckily enough a couple of months earlier a new place opened next to us that would let you drop your kids at any time and go shopping or run errands. My husband and I were excited when we read that they take kids from 6 weeks till 12 years old, Plus, they open till 10 pm during weeknights and 12 am during weekends! which was convenient since my classes usually end at 8:50 pm!

 

Before committing to leaving my daughter there while I'm at school, I went in and took a tour of the place when she was almost 3 months old. The staff member that gave me the tour was really friendly and answered all of my questions. what I really liked about the place is that it is open with lots of windows, where you can check     on your kids without your little ones seeing you, and make sure that   the crying has stopped the minute they so all the toys that they've got!    The center is divided into three areas, one for infants from 6 weeks-    1 year old, the other area is for toddlers from 1 year old- 2 years old,  and then the "big kids area" which has lots of fun activities for    different ages. They also offer meals for Breakfast, Lunch and    Dinner.

So the idea is that you can come and drop your kid, but they do recommend that you make a reservation especially for infants and toddlers since they have limited numbers (1 staff member for each 4 kids). They have theme nights, movies, arts and crafts, and many more activities. However, I'm not going to bore you with all of this information since you can find it on their website.

I am going to talk about my experience with the AKP Bellevue location. As I mentioned before, the staff is really friendly, and always greets my daughter by name. When my daughter first started going there she wasn't the "easiest" infant to deal with, taking care of her needed extra effort, and the staff was really open to suggestions from us, and they didn't mind that I gave them a list of "instructions" on how to make their time and hers easier. The owners are there almost everyday, and try to be involved with the parents by having small talks whenever they can. I can tell that my daughter enjoys her time at AKP, because whenever I pick her up and head toward the car she cries and points at the center, which is her way of saying that she wants to go back.

So I am going to use this post to thank the staff at Adventure Kids Playcare for all the hard work they're doing!
THANK YOU!

Babies Babysitting Babies?

Being a young "student" mom, I realized early on that finding someone to take care of my baby during school is very important. However, how can you trust anyone, especially those teenaged babysitter to watch over your precious baby? I understand that having a teen babysit your baby is part of the American culture, and that there are a lot of movies based on that, and even a novel series about the baby-sitters club. But I am not American and I cannot digest the idea of having a child take care of MY child. Moreover, if I had family in the States I wouldn't even bother looking for childcare, because I would feel a lot more comfortable with my mom or sister babysitting my baby. Yet, my family is thousands of miles away in Saudi Arabia! so I had to set aside my uneasiness and start the search for a nanny or a babysitter.

I abandoned the idea of having a nanny after I stumbled upon a place that is called Adventure Kids Playcare (AKP), that was a walking distance from my apartment. I'll talk about AKP on another post, but basically they are a place where you can drop your kids at anytime during the day. You don't have to be a member there, it could be a one time thing, but it is better to sign up with them. The amazing thing is that they stay open till 10 pm on weekdays, -which is perfect since my classes are at night- and till 12 am during weekends.

I believe that the search for a babysitter is a lot easier when you have a family member or a friend that would recommend someone they have used before. So when your in my situation you got to go the extra mile to find someone you can trust. So definitely not Craig's list! 

 

I used the website Care.com, which offers different "care" services from babysitting, to dog setting and house keeping. I've joined Care.com when I was pregnant, thinking that it is never too late to find the right childcare. However, it seemed that they kept taking their monthly fees and I kept being rejected by all those prospective babysitters. It wasn't exactly a rejection as much as a No Reply kind of thing. The way I approached the search was to look at their inventory of babysitters and nannies, and then read the profiles of those that I liked and then contact them with my life story! well guess what THEY WERE NOT INETERESTED!  That is why I unsubscribed from Care.com after five months.

 

Then two months ago I joined Care.com again looking for an occasional babysitter that would be available during date nights, or if my baby girl gets sick and I have to go to school. I tried my old approach of checking Care.com's inventory and guess what! I did get a reply, but it was a "I'm sorry my schedule is full, and I will not be able to help you." kind of reply. So instead of getting depressed and lose all hope and unsubscribe from Care.com, I decided to post a job, and hallelujah!

I got one reply after 30 minutes of posting the job, and then another one, and another one, at the end of the day I had 8 replies, and more applicants would have probably come if I didn't "close" the job post.

So, what did I do right this time?

First, I realized that I didn't have a photos in my profile, which isn't very inviting in my opinion. I mean I wouldn't trust a babysitter without a photo, so why would they trust me?

-----So always upload a photo either of your self, your baby, or you dog!

Second, I didn't provide a lot of information about myself and my family. I think you should treat your Care.com account as you would treat your match.com account, you want people to be attracted to your profile and whatever is written in it.

-----So always add a little bit more information about yourself and your family, it doesn't have to be serious stuff, fun stuff attract too. More information makes you look more legitimate in my opinion.

 

So, by the end of this week I'll meet up with three prospective babysitters to see if we're on the same page, and if my daughter likes them or not. And who knows, I might end up using them all, that way I will have backup if someone canceled or didn't show, and I'll have more options to choose from.

 

 

Deema