La Petite Academy

Evocative name, is it not? Minimally, yet impeccably dressed French women gently instructing young children to recognize and appreciate fine art while at the same time teaching them how to properly eat patte.

Well, not at exactly. If this were a TV show or movie, this is the moment in the program that you would hear the sound effect of a record player's needle being dragged abruptly across the vinyl. This morning I took my first daycare center tour. The center, not-so-aptly named La Petite Academy, is so conveniently located just a two-minute drive from our house.

I was nervous when I left home today. What would I find?

While I wasn't greeted with a waft of freshly-baked croissants when I entered the building, I was quite pleasantly surprised. I was armed with questions regarding references, certifications and the like. The woman who greeted me and gave me the tour was very likable and had a personality that really put me at ease. (So, La Petite is at least not dumb. The fact that this woman was the one giving the tour and acting as my first point of contact with the daycare earns them kudos from me.)

Not to mention, the babies in the 6 weeks to 6 months area truly looked happy and content. I was relaxing.

I had previously dreamed up horrible visions of banks of baby beds where one adult was responsible for at least five infants. That definitely wasn't the case here. And the employee turnover wasn't bad in the infant section. Another check in the good column. (The ratio here, by the way, is one adult to three babies.)

Bottom line. Was it perfect? No. But it was good. And, with their being so close, I can drop by regularly, take the Bean in when it suits me, etc. We'll see how the rest of this "exploration project" goes. I've got a number of other options to check out in the meantime... But the end result of today's trip is that I feel much, much more relaxed.