What do you do with the kids? Holidays can bring child care headaches

A week off from school for Thanksgiving is great for the kids. But for working parents looking for short-term child care, the holiday can be a headache.
One such parent is April Gros of Morgan City, mother of two sons. Gros has a 2-year-old and 6-year-old.
Her younger son is enrolled in a private home day care. The problem she runs into is finding child care for her son in first grade.
Gros’ son attends M.E. Norman Elementary in Morgan City.
“A lot of babysitters don’t want to keep older kids …,” Gros said.
“Sometimes I end up bringing my child to work, too, if the babysitter is full or something happens. It’s an inconvenience.
“They should still have aftercare at school or something.”
Smaller, private day care operations, child care providers like to keep older kids separated from the younger children for scheduling reasons.
For most parents like Gros, the cost to have a child kept over the holiday or school breaks requires parents to pay drop-in fees.
The costs for day care ranges from $20 to $25 per day, said Gros. The fee for childcare services is paid at the beginning of the week.
“Most drop-in fees at daycares cost a little bit more because the child is just coming in a few days versus the child coming all week,” said Gros.
Since Gros would be required to pay extra for her older son’s child care, she decided both of her sons would stay with their grandmother over the Thanksgiving school break.
Parents with children enrolled in a daycare have to pay a full week whether their child attends day care for the holiday break or not.
There are not many daycare big business operations in the Tri-City area. There are some private day care settings inside homes for families.
Gros prefers private home day care settings over bigger operations due to smaller, more intimate size.
According the Louisiana Department of Education’s website, there are 17 licensed early childhood learning centers in St. Mary Parish.
Five of the 17 centers in the parish are open during the Thanksgiving break. Eleven of the 17 centers operate on St. Mary Parish schools holiday calendar.
Of the 17 licensed facilities, 10 are in the Tri-City area. But only two of the 10 are open during this Thanksgiving school holiday break.
Both Tri-City area child are facilities, Joslyn’s Fun Learning Center and Pre-K and Barney & Baby Bop Daycare, provide care for school-aged children up to 12-years-old.
“During the holidays we do welcome them (school-aged children) to come in,” said Ambre Wilson, business administrative assistant of Joslyn’s Fun Learning Center and Pre-K in Berwick. “Our count hasn’t gone up because some of our younger kids that normally would be here are out on vacation with their families.
The learning center did open its doors Monday to school-aged children.
“We do have a handful today,” Wilson said. “I’ve got five school kids here.”
Not only does Wilson work at the day care center but she is also the mother of a school-aged child.
Her child goes to the day care center on school breaks like these.
“It helps me out tremendously just because I’m not having to figure out a place to send her,” Wilson said. “And it’s nice during the holidays and summers of course.
“Anytime the school is not in session I have the opportunity to bring her here, which is a lifesaver, because that means I’m not having to take more time off. I can bring her here.”
Wilson’s daughter is a first-grader attending Immanuel Christian School in Morgan City
Barney & Baby Bop Daycare in Patterson took in four extra school-aged children as a result of the Thanksgiving Day break, said Georgia Ford, director of Barney & Baby Bop.
“It can vary from day to day,” Ford said. “I have my before and after school kids that are actually regulars, too.”
Ford attributes varied increases of enrollment to holiday and school breaks. It’s the norm for that location when school is out and she has no complaints.
“It’s a blessing for us,” Ford said.