Sending Vikrant to childcare for the first time was honestly very hard for both me and Monica. He is our first child, and until then he had pretty much always been with us. Suddenly leaving him somewhere for hours and walking away.. I think any first-time parent will understand that feeling.
We were probably more nervous than Vikrant was!
Because of that, we were quite particular about choosing the right place. We visited four childcare centres and even sent Vikrant to another centre for a few days as a trial. Eventually we came to Guardian, and something just felt right.
Ravjit was lovely from the beginning. She showed us around, introduced us to Vikrant’s room, the educators, outdoor play area, kitchen and chef, and made us feel comfortable with where Vikrant would be spending his day.
But for me and Monica, the biggest reason we became comfortable with Guardian was Soyoung, Emiliana and Danny.
You can have the newest childcare centre, the nicest rooms and the best facilities, but at the end of the day, what really matters is the people who are actually with your child.
Soyoung, Emiliana and Danny are always happy, playful and energetic with the kids. It doesn’t feel like they are just doing a job. There is genuine affection there, and you notice it in the smallest things.. how they talk to the kids, comfort them, play with them and know their little habits.
That was probably the biggest thing that convinced me and Monica that Vikrant was in the right hands.
We noticed this because we had tried another centre before Guardian. It was newer and probably looked better on paper, but the experience felt a little more transactional. Nobody was doing anything wrong.. you can just feel the difference between someone doing their job and someone genuinely enjoying being with your child.
At Guardian, we strongly felt the latter.
These educators are genuinely happy people, and I think that matters. When you are happy and settled yourself, it naturally flows into how you care for others. That also speaks highly of the management. Supported educators make a huge difference, and children feel that energy too. We had heard a lot about educator turnover in childcare, so having familiar, happy faces around Vikrant has meant a lot to us.
Another thing that matters a lot to me personally is the effort everyone has put into Vikrant’s eating.
Vikrant is a very happy and social kid, but he can definitely be a picky eater! Soyoung, Emiliana, Danny, Swati and the wider team have gone above and beyond to make sure he eats. They keep trying, encouraging him and finding different ways to feed him rather than simply saying, “We offered, but he didn’t want to eat today.” And THAT EFFORT MEANS A LOT TO US.
And there is one thing Emiliana did that me and Monica will always be thankful for.
After knowing Vikrant for some time, she noticed that his energy had gone down and his eating had changed. She suggested that we speak to our GP and check his iron levels.
We did.. and his blood test showed that his iron was actually low.
Honestly, we probably wouldn’t have thought of checking it if Emiliana hadn’t noticed the change in him. We addressed it, and since then we have seen a noticeable difference in Vikrant.
The fact that she knew Vikrant well enough to notice something like that means a lot to us as parents.
I’ve been meaning to write this review for quite some time, and this is genuinely coming straight from the heart.
Vikrant will soon move into the next room at Guardian, and of course me and Monica will probably be nervous all over again! But this time we have a lot more confidence because of the experience we’ve had so far. We really hope he continues to receive the same love, attention, care and playfulness in his next room.
So a very, very big thank you to Soyoung, Emiliana, Danny, Swati, Ravjit and Joan, and everyone else at Guardian who looks after Vikrant and makes his days there happy.
We just hope Vikrant, and all the little kids there, continue being happy, playful and loved. ❤️
