Simple tips for interviewing a child care provider.............

So how do you know it's the right home for your child? Well coming from someone who knows....follow these simple tips. #1 Interview: Very important....not only are you interviewing her..but she is interviewing you, at least she should be. She needs to see if your child will fit in with "her family" or is all about the money?
Look around the house...is it neat or "too clean"...that's a red flag...and you should ask or wonder why. What I mean by "too clean" is this...... is there toys about the house? Evidence that children live there or stay there. If there is no evidence of children living there..then you need to re-think some things regrading your interview....where will your child be kept when your away?  You can't have white carpet and watch children in your home...unless you have rules.. find out what those rules are. As a childcare provider for many years take my word for it...at the end of a long day...who puts all that equipment away? We don't! We clean it, ..stack it, move it but we don't remove it. If a home is in order, clean and homey that's great..it should be. If she can handle all those children and keep a clean and orderly home...she's a hard worker. #2 Is her heart into it? You know  there are some people who are teachers..."for a living"..and they shouldn't be..because they don't even like kids, much less the time it takes to teach them. It's all about the money....the paycheck....and honestly your child is "the money" to some. Make sure you watch the first impression she has with your child, even a baby. Does she get on their eye level to speak to them? Does she talk "to" them or "at" them? You want the "other mother"....someone who will love your child and treat your child the same as her own while your away. Any thing less is unacceptable. #3 and #4  coming up soon.....