When we lived in Virginia, my daughter went to the best child care center ever. Now that we've moved, the search is on to find one that can compete for that spot in our hearts. Seeing as I'm not working full-time now, the school had better be exceptional to separate me and the nonna (Arabic for niña, little girl).Abouna, nonna, and I visited a school a few days ago in hopes of finding the One. Right away, I knew this place wasn't for us. I am certain there are plenty of articles with all kinds of practical advice about finding the right school. I'm going to give you just three unusual tips. If the director of the school or the teachers don't do this on your first tour, don't bother.1. Shake all our hands and ask all our names. I don't even care if s/he can't remember my name two seconds later. Or if s/he botches the pronunciation. Caring enough to try is important. Not bothering is highly unprofessional.
2. Sit us down somewhere before the tour and find out what we really need. Unless the director knows our needs, how can s/he tell if we're a good fit for the school or not? How can she know what kinds of things we want to see?3. Talk to the child. This one really kills me. The director didn't ask my daughter's name or shake her hand or ask her how old she is or comment on her adorable t-shirt. If s/he can't show me that they know how to relate to children, why would I give them 1) my most precious God-given gift and 2) my hard-earned cash? To be fair, one teacher (out of three classrooms) did shake her hand and did comment on her shirt (an important and much loved gift from her teta).Now I am certain that Abouna's appearance was surprising, to say the least, and the director cared enough to emphasize that they love diversity. I might have even given her the benefit of the doubt if not for what happened at the next stop.After we finished with the school and I was feeling overall not happy about the experience, we went to a furniture store nearby (West Elm). There we were greeted by a grinning manager who shook ALL our hands and learned ALL our names (even pronouncing Abouna's until she got it right). She also talked to nonna about her shirt (it's really that adorable). When we had questions, she sat with us and gave us her undivided attention. She was organized and cheerful and asked about our lives and shared about hers.This should have happened at the school and not at the furniture store. If West Elm was a day care, nonna would have been signed up and paid the full year's tuition by now. Alas, the search for a great school is still on.This is just basic professionalism and good customer service, right? What do you think? Am I being unreasonable?