I have decided to join the gym. My dd is almost 21 months olds, and has never been left in any kind of daycare. I have left her with my mom about 20 times. She has always done super with nana, never cries when I say bye, ect. I am SO nervous about the gym daycare. Just because its a totally new thing. I think she will actually be fine, they have a huge climbing structure, and a big area to run around on. I asked today about the disclipline policy, and the girl said they do time out for hitting or pushing others. Just as she was saying that, another little kid (like maybe 2) shoved dd over to get her toy. So I was able to observe the time out thing in action. She calmly t ook him over to the chair and told him to sit there for a minute. It was gentle, not at all mean. I dont agree with time outs at all. I dont think they teach anything. Is it reasonable for me to tell them to page me if they feel she needs a time out? I want to say, "We dont do time out with dd, please call me if there is a situation where you feel a time out is necessary, so that I can come adress the issue." Since I'd be in the gym, I could get there in less than a minute. However, I dont know if that is totally crazy of me to say? Also they have a camera in there, and you can watch the kids gym channel while working out. So I would be watching the entire time. I could see if there was a problem. So my questions are...what else should I ask about regarding the gym? And do you think it's detrimental for dd to be in there say, 3 times a week? On Mondays, I am going to leave her with dh, so maybe only 2x for an hour each time? With me able to watch on the tv? I can arrange for someone else to take care of her at my home, but then I'd actually be away from her for longer, like 2 hours, by the time I drive to the gym and then drive home. Also right down the street from the gym is a nice park, so we could go there after, if I take her to the gym. This is so hard. My heart goes out to any mama who has to work, and doesn't want to. I can't imagine how hard it must be. I am having heart attacks over one hour at the gym.
). You can usually learn alot about a specific facility from talking to other parents and I am sure that many of the problems that we are trying to avoid (including punitive timeouts & inconsistent caregivers) are not a problem at all facilities, but are a problem at ours.
