November 2020 by Melanie Stewart
Explore and Discover was hands-down the very best child care decision we ever made. We are leaving the daycare this week as we are moving, and it will be incredibly hard to say goodbye to the wonderful community here.Leaving your newborn baby somewhere because you have to go to work is hard. Like, really hard. Especially if you're like me, and your brain is constantly thinking up horrific scenarios of "what-ifs". Explore & Discover made us feel comfortable, safe, and like family the whole way through, and made that transition so much easier. Before attending I did my research on all of our child care options, because I understood the gravity of leaving my incredibly tiny, vulnerable baby with a stranger, and wanted to be sure I was making the very best choice for us. I went through years of all of our daycare option's state audits and incident reports. I also weighed location, and the fact that E&D was a co-op. In the end, Explore & Discover was the clear choice. They had a massive wait list (get on early!), but because I only needed two days a week I was lucky enough to be called up to the plate, and I am so glad that I was.My daughter's teacher has not only taken amazing care of her throughout her time with E&D, she has also been my best resource for how to be a parent. I was one of the first of my friends to have a baby and the parent figures in our life were offering very outdated advice, but our baby's teacher taught me how to get her on a nap schedule, how to feed her solid foods, and gave ideas of activities that would stimulate her. She was an unending source of patience and knowledge, and really began to feel like an extension of our family.Because the center is parent-run, the parents are much more involved than I imagine they would be elsewhere, which creates this amazing community of people who genuinely care about their children. There are mom's and dad's nights out, group meet-ups, every-other-month parent meetings, and monthly newsletters created off of contributions of the parents. Having access to this community means that there is always someone there to help you if needed. They cheer each other on when there is a life event, they donate and contribute if a fundraising event is planned, and they rally whenever anything is required for the good of the community or the center. It is something so unique to E&D, and something we felt so lucky to be a part of. We were there before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of E&D's attention to CDC guidelines there was not a single positive case within the community.I already mentioned this, but E&D was definitely the best child care decision that we made. Leaving my child at daycare was something I dreaded in the beginning, and grew to be something I (and she) looked forward to. She squeals when we get into the parking lot! I am genuinely disappointed to be leaving this community, but want to be sure to share what an absolutely amazing experience we had here in the hopes that someone like me, a new mother trying to make the best decision for her new baby, will read this and know she found the right place.
