I'm in OH and our governor plans to announce re-opening plans on Monday. I"m actually super excited and anxious to hear about it and find out if he can re-enroll at least part-time for the summer.
We went to DS's school on Tuesday for a teacher appreciation parade and it made soooo emotional seeing everyone. I think it made DS happy too.
Tell me, if you've got little ones at home because your daycare closed, are you planning to send them back? In the comments feel free to elaborate 
19 votes
pear / 1750 posts
I voted yes but part time. It seems likely that they will phase re-opening and stagger schedules to facilitate this. I also see it as a good option to allow some socialization and learning opportunities but with slightly less exposure than full time.
pomelo / 5258 posts
I voted no because my school age kids is home anyway. DS would be transitioning to school age summer camp/extended care in July anyway so we'll keep him out.
It's not the ending we expected after 5 years there. If he wasn't transitioning and we had a place for DD we would send him. At this point
pear / 1750 posts
@Corduroy: Do you know if your school age summer camp is going to be opening?
pomelo / 5258 posts
@macintosh: There hasn't been anything announced by the government but everything we had booked through mid-July has been cancelled by the organizers. We're still waiting to hear from the extended care associated with the elementary school, where the kids were enrolled for mid-July through school. However I heard the school district has cancelled all facility rentals for the summer so I don't hold out much hope.
persimmon / 1023 posts
Our daycare is going by the schools reopening so are closed til May 31 at the earliest. I’m kinda waiting on the school choice first as if we need to have our older home all summer, we could also keep the toddler home. However, how do we work? Can we get some grandma care to help? I feel a little more easygoing about sending back to daycare in his class of 10 as it’s so much smaller amount of people but I really don’t know. A lot hinges on the school and summer camp things...I also don’t want to lose our daycare spot either. So really, I’m all over the place!
pomelo / 5573 posts
It depends on the situation in my province when they reopen, and the guidelines - like, if they’re not allowed to play or if they have to wear a mask all day, probably not.
pomelo / 5621 posts
I voted yes full time but as to when I don’t know. Eventually they both have to go back. Our daycare is tentatively opening mid month, they are just waiting on guidelines from the provincial government. On the one hand I want them to go back so I can focus on work during the day. But we don’t think we will send them right away in case things change and they close again. I was texting with our youngests teacher and let her know this and told her if they are limited on the amount of kids we will wait. Then I think maybe we should send the toddler but keep DS1 at home since he still has to do online learning.
Pretty much like @muffinsmuffins: I’m all over the place with this.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
I voted yes. We have few cases in our province, so I expect it will be safe. But, I wonder if it will be too stressful for them. There was a letter sent home asking if the kids could play with another kid for short times every day. That the kids were being affected by the social distancing etc. Since, I’m having a hard time with the social distancing at work, I’m not sure the kids will be ok. We’ll have to see.
clementine / 794 posts
I voted Yes - Part Time but it's more complicated than that. We're currently in OH but will be moving to IN as soon as we buy a house there. As long as we are in OH he will not be going back to daycare because my parents will continue to watch him as they have been the last 6 or so weeks while we've been living with them. Once we move to IN he will go to daycare part time provided they are open. My husband's new job is four 10 hours shifts so we will keep him home on my husband's day off to save some money.
pear / 1750 posts
So after I posted this I read through an FAQ that was sent by our daycare. They are basically saying they will have reduced class sizes and they will give priority to full time families.
I'm really curious to hear what the governor says on Monday about it. I'm not sure how the daycare guidelines could allow full time care when the school guidelines are shaping up so differently, but we shall see.
I realize that the public schools have to serve their population by whatever means, so it seems like daycares will just be forced to cut their enrollment back until the class size restrictions are lifted.
If part time daycare isn't an option I'm considering if a part time day camp might be a good idea, just to get some socialization and routine back in the mix before kinder. Good lord this all suuuucks.
grapefruit / 4361 posts
Yes, he will go back 9a-1p, as many days as they will allow. The benefits outweigh the risks, in my current view. My son is a ball of extroverted energy and *needs* other people and structured learning.
If it were my daughter, with her personality, nah. She's happy as a clam either way.
grapefruit / 4466 posts
Since they need to lower their occupancy for reopening, which our governor is not permitting until July at the earliest, we were given the opportunity to exit our contract for the rest of this school year and chose to do so. I'm really sad that my son won't return to his classroom or teachers, as he loved it so so so much and still constantly asks to go back, but it felt like the right thing to do. We have lined up a babysitter who's available from mid-June until she starts back to school in August.
Since we don't have anything lined up after that and really, really love the daycare, we decided to sign the contracts for next school year and hope for the best. There's a ton of uncertainty about how much they will be open given the possibility of future stay at home orders, and if they have to keep occupancy rates substantially lower beyond the fall, they may have to declare bankruptcy as this will force them to operate at a loss. But I really want my kids to be able to go back if there's somewhere to go back to and it's safe to do so. Hopefully it will work one way or another in the long run, even if it's a rough and bumpy road back...
grapefruit / 4466 posts
@macintosh: the problem is that many daycares operate on pretty thin margins, so cutting back enrollments may force them to operate at a loss.
Our daycare has reserves and says it can operate at some loss through the end of the year, but if it can't be back to full enrollment by then, they will have to declare bankruptcy. They've already secured some private loans. It would be a huge help if there were more government small business loans available to get childcare centers through these very difficult times. Otherwise, there may be a severe shortage of childcare even when the health crisis is over, as many will have gone under, which could have huge knock off effects on the economy for a long time to come...
pear / 1750 posts
@periwinklebee: This makes a lot of sense. I know this is a big reason why my agency sold the daycare (right before this pandemic, good timing!). I also saw a story about a local childcare chain that is in financial trouble despite having secured a loan. I'm really hoping this is the wake up call our leaders need to begin subsidizing childcare in the US.
grape / 87 posts
I voted yes FT since me and my husband both work FT and will need daycare when our offices reopen. When things are normal, he works from home 1-2 days per week and I work from home usually 1 day per week, though not always. The days we work from home arent consistent so we will need FT daycare.
We arent planning to send our DD back to daycare right when they open (June) as our county was hit exceptionally hard by covid (over 30,000 confirmed cases), but we dont have the option to keep her home all summer as I think we will be expected to be back in the office at least part time in the next few months.
grapefruit / 4466 posts
@macintosh: yeah, that would be awesome if it happened. I would love to see more involvement in pre-K (in our state, it is only for those in EI). I am a huge believer in early childhood education, and all the more important for kids from disadvantaged settings...
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