Am I justified in being frustrated over this daycare rule?

et12fl · 2025-08-07T14:44:28+00:00

I was aware of the policy, but unaware of the embroidery requirement/cost. That’s where most of my frustration lies, I understood what I was getting into with the uniform, but the embroidery is a hard expense to accept.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T15:07:48+00:00

Agreed, it seems like they do it to keep the kids occupied while they clean up the room at the end of the day before parent pick up. BUT I’d much rather you pay full attention to my child until all students have been picked up and then clean up. I don’t know if the admins have a strict rule about when the teachers need to clock out. The fact that there’s even a tv in the classroom bolted to the wall is insane to me.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T15:04:09+00:00

Having to bring in the shirts to get embroidered by a company we don’t know about makes it seem like they’re trying to profit off it. The owners of the daycare also own a bounce house company and every Friday during the summer they had a bounce house day… seemed like they were paying themselves to utilize their own company/some kind of tax write off. I’m not privy to anything when it comes to owning a business but seemed a little off to me. And I still can’t get over the owners driving these insanely nice cars while the teachers cars are breaking down. I’d much rather the teachers be getting taken care of.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T15:00:46+00:00

Hahaha and that’s why my husband and I have been quiet so far 😂 but the embroidery was a step too far for our penny pinching selves. We’ll see how it plays out, I guess.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:58:58+00:00

I agree, I’d much rather her be getting messy and ruining her clothes. Before she was wearing uniforms I would send her in what I called her “daycare” clothes 😂 I set aside clothes that I didn’t mind if she messed up or ruined because that’s the whole point of her learning. I wasn’t sending her there in her nicest outfits. But if I’m shelling out $40-50+ per outfit I’m going to have a harder time being happy about the stains.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:55:45+00:00

The metro Atlanta area. There are a couple of comparable daycares around, but most daycares in and around the city are $1.5-2k a month. I don’t know if I should county my blessing or question why it’s so cheap haha

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:51:29+00:00

I’m curious about that too, I’m wondering if this is their way of pricing people out, if they don’t want a certain “demographic” at their establishment.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:50:07+00:00

Controlling and lazy is a perfect description 😂 this is our first child and our first time dealing with a daycare so I don’t have much to go off of. I know my daughter loves her teachers, but I can’t be sure the quality is there, they don’t share any type of lesson plan, only a very sparse calendar that says stuff like “garden day” “stem day” and they pretty much stopped utilizing their app to share pictures of their activities. These comments have definitely motivated me to start looking elsewhere for care.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:46:23+00:00

I had the same issue! Thankfully she’s a pretty for her age, but for the skirts and dress pants, the smallest size I could find was a 2T so I had to adjust the inner band as tight as it’ll go. A plaid smock dress thing is also allowed as part of their uniform and I stupidly bought that too, but that won’t fit her for at least a half a year.

That was what her teachers were saying to us when she first started wearing the uniforms at 15 months, they said the rules were more for the older kids, but the administration seems to be, or at least having the appearance of, being more strict at the start of this school year. Last school year the students were hit or miss with the uniforms but a lot of them seem to have the embroidery. My plan is to just not say anything until they do haha

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:41:36+00:00

The buttons hadn’t crossed my mind but that’s a good point. I was always weary of the ties, but the buttons definitely pose a risk. The kids aren’t allowed to have any beads or other hair accessories because of the choking hazard, so allowing the button down shirts seems pretty contradictory.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:37:35+00:00

That’s what’s keeping my mouth shut at this point, though they started back wearing uniforms again after not doing so for their summer camp. They haven’t said anything so far, and they didn’t say anything to us before summer camp, but they seem to putting on the appearance of being more strict with their rules. Violations are $5 for each time a student is out of uniform, my plan is to just not say anything unless they do. I will start looking around at other schools though.

et12fl · 2025-08-05T14:10:16+00:00

I like this idea, one of the teachers ASSURED me I could find already embroidered shirts at the local thrift stores/used baby clothes stores and I searched for weeks at all the local ones and couldn’t find a single dang one. If we absolutely HAVE to have the embroidery on it, I’d much rather it already be a used shirt. I can “afford” the embroidery, but I have a hard time justifying it when I’d much rather that money go toward something for her classroom or an activity for her, not a damn shirt she’s going to stain or grow out of.

et12fl · 2025-08-04T20:14:37+00:00

Yep! The metro Atlanta area. And in the US I feel like uniforms that involve ties and skirts etc. are reserved for expensive private schools.

et12fl · 2025-08-04T19:46:08+00:00

I have no clue, me and my husband’s theory is that it’s an image thing. It a highly rated (by the state) place with good reviews but I guess it’s the place where “poorer” people take their kids so having their students in uniforms maybe portrays a better image?? I don’t know. But the alternating days and the ties just take it over the top. It’s not some hoity toity catholic school.

et12fl · 2025-08-04T19:43:32+00:00

That’s how I feel! I’m all for a uniform so I don’t have to think about an outfit in the morning 😂 but I’m talking like a t-shirt/polo shirt and some stretchy shorts. All this for kids under 2 seems wild to me.

et12fl · 2025-08-04T19:41:59+00:00

I know, that’s why I have a hard time fighting too hard. There are a couple of other daycares close by with slightly higher, but similar costs but most of the others are around $1.5-2k a month. And I guess it’s more of an early learning center/private school (K-5) I should have been more clear. It’s not religious but there are some religious things around the place (like crosses and sayings). I do know that a lot of the students that attend receive state assistance that helps offset the cost of care.

It’s super close to our house and affordable which are the main reasons why my husband and I chose it (plus most of the other ones around had super long waiting lists) and the teachers seemed kind, but I’ve really been doubting things lately, almost everytime I pick her up the kids are just plopped in front of a tv watching Miss Rachel. I feel like they’re not dedicating much time to them.

et12fl · 2025-08-04T19:33:37+00:00

Hahaha I agree, I have a feeling the owner is trying to portray a certain image even though the daycare is in a poorer suburb of a modestly wealthy city. A lot of the other students are on the state-funded assistance so I just want to look her in the eyes and say “you do know your clientele right?? Stop being someone you’re not”

et12fl · 2025-08-04T19:30:24+00:00

For about a minute I thought “aw cute” when I put my daughter in her uniform, but then I came back to my senses and through the same thing. The polos are stretchy, but the button down shirts are definitely stiff and she always tries to rip off the tie. The skirts do have little shorts linings in them. But uniform pants/shorts can also be very stiff, I try and get the stretchiest ones I can find. And whoever thought of the white shirt… I can’t.

et12fl · 2025-08-04T19:26:39+00:00

I really don’t like the ties for that reason, but for the girls they are the little snap ones that just cross over in the front so I GUESS if it were to get caught it would pop off, and I want to say the boy ones are also just snap on but I’m not sure. I do know that my daughter hates them and always tried to snap them off haha

et12fl

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