Laetitia V Cadena

Mrs. Cadena has a good handle on children and teaches them good manners, along with basic knowledge. She has a structure and routine with group participation, and gives the toddlers and preschoolers a turn in choosing what is eaten for lunch. Infants are fed whatever parents provide, even if it is a can of powdered formula for daycare to mix. Everyone gets one nap in the afternoon and they go outside every day for an hour, unless it is too hot or raining. My daughter has been attending her daycare for 18 months now and seems to enjoy it. At the morning dropoff, there is little to no separation anxiety. Mr. Cadena assists Mrs. Cadena and they have built out their garage to be the classroom. The house is clean. They utilize two bedrooms for the playpens and one bedroom is setup with a daybed as the changing station. There is a changing pad on the daybed and everyone contributes wipes when she requests them. If you prefer your child only use the wipes you provide, just instruct her to do so and she'll oblige you. Just talk with her and ask her to do as you want and she'll work with you. For liability purposes, sometimes you have to put it in writing. After every diaper change, Mrs. Cadena washes her hands and shows the children how to do so as well. My daughter cleans up her messes and puts stuff in the trash without me asking and I give credit to Mrs. Cadena to help teach her. She even accepts modern pocket cloth diapers! Nearly everyday, my daughter has a craft to bring home - finger painting, coloring with crayons, pasting shapes on paper or paper hats she made. Collect your toilet paper rolls and give them to Mrs. Cadena - she'll find a use for them. I was a bit surprised to learn in the beginning that I would have to provide a stroller (Mrs. Cadena prefers a full size one), a playpen (for naps), and toys. Fortunately, I'm in a position to afford buying extras to leave at daycare, but I assumed those would be provided. In retrospect, I prefer providing my own equipment so that I know what my daughter is using. It is also helpful to leave extra clothing for your child. My primary reason for giving her less than five stars is the inconvenience of how many days and weeks Mrs. Cadena closes. In 2014 and 2015, she closed over the week of spring break and gave us two or three weeks notice. In 2014, she closed for two weeks for vacation and gave us two month's notice. In 2015, she's closing for 13 business days in a row this summer, but only gave us 10 days notice. In 2013 & 2014, she closed the last two weeks of the year (the week of Christmas through New Year's Day) and I expect she will do so in 2015. She also tends to close for three and four day holiday weekends, even the bank holidays like MLK Day. Not a month goes by that she isn't closed for at least one day. If you have a great support network or generous PTO policy at work that you can utilize to cover such closures, you will need it. Otherwise, I recommend finding a back-up daycare for the frequent closings.