Melody’s Munchkins

Well first of all, I would like to say that the previous negative posts are a bit ridiculous. We have had all three of our daughters go here over the last 5 years.yes.5 YEARS. Melody has been the ONLY care provider we have used for our 5 year old and our 2 year old. I know what the area has to offer as far as child care goes, we went through about 8 of them when our 9 year old daughter was little. Trust me. Melody’s munchkins outshines them all!
I have full confidence in Melody and all of the other care providers there. In regards to the other mom suggesting that people just «drop in» to check on their children, I think that’s taking it a bit far. I drop in at all times of the day to pick up my girls, to drop off diapers, etc. and I have never observed anything out of the ordinary. Unless you consider happy children, who are being cared for by an attentive care giver out of the ordinary.
Melody is always striving to keep things fresh. Weekly she is updating the activities, the crafts, the play rooms, and she always has the kids safety in mind.
Did I mention how great the teaching is here? With regular in home child care you just basically get a babysitter that plays with your child. Not here! Here you get so much more.
Our 5 year old daughter was signing dozens of words with sign language by age 2. Now, at 5 she can sign the entire alphabet! She has also been learning Spanish, she knows more than I do! And now, at just 5 years old, she is doing math and writing above her age level.
Our 2 year old knows her alphabet, can sign multiple words, and can spell multiple words including her name!
I love that the teachers here are always doing some sort of hands on learning with the children. My children are excelling because these teachers make learning FUN!
I could go on and on, I have endless positive things to say about Melody and her childcare center.
If you want in home child care, home cooked meals for your children, a great curriculum, interactive activities, and endless loving care for your child, then I would highly recommend Melody’s Munchkins!

My son has been attending Melodys Munchkins for over a year. He started at about 1.5yrs old and has transitioned between the infant/​toddler room to the pre-​school downstairs. He is always happy when picked up, enjoys and hugs Melody, Janet, Emily, Anna and Avery anytime he can. I feel that they respect him as a little person, providing appropriate and fun instruction and rules. They accommodate his dietary needs and give me a full report on his day whenever I ask. I appreciate that they are family run and enjoy spending time together. This is not a glamorous in-​house daycare. What really matters is that my child is well cared for, loved, and provided with new learning experiences each day.

I wish I could give this daycare negative stars. Here’s the whole story…
My 4-​month-​old daughter started here on Monday, March 26^th. My boyfriend had gone to the daycare the Friday before to check it out. He extensively interviewed the owner/​director, & she answered all of the questions to our satisfaction. I also even called the next day to ask more questions since I couldn’t go in myself. She (Melody) seemed super nice & gave the perfect answers to all of our questions. When we went to go pick our daughter up that first week, she seemed just fine. They knew what time we’d be picking her up every day & had their game faces on when we got there. We enrolled her for the month of April since we thought the first week went well.
On Tuesday, April 3^rd, the day after we wrote them a check for the month, I came in to get her a few hours early. SURPRISE!!! The door was locked, knocked a few times, waited, knocked more, heard some kids from inside fidgeting with the door, so I tried to open it again & voila, the door was unlocked, thank you, unattended 4-​year-​old. I walked into a madhouse. Kids running around everywhere with no adult in sight. The infant room was all the way in the back of the house, so I walk in slowly, looking around for an employee. I got all the way to where my daughter was in the infant room without seeing an adult, & guess what, no adult in the infant room either! In fact, she was completely alone in there. & here’s where it gets «good»… she was laying in a Pack & Play, with a bib around her neck, a blanket pulled up almost to her head, & another kids binky in there. I picked her up to find she wasn’t wearing any pants & also had a poopy diaper. My daughter, like most babies, cries & cries when she poops & wants to be changed immediately. But when I walked in the room she was not crying, which leads me to believe she had been crying, given up, & was just laying there neglected. I was completely shocked, & still alone in the room. My poor baby! I held her, took off the bib, found her diapers & changed her. I found her spare change of clothes & properly dressed her. As I was looking around trying to collect her things, the infant room teacher, Janet, FINALLY walked in. I was alone in there with her for at least 10 minutes, possibly close to 15. I immediately went over all of the things that were wrong w/​Janet & she just brushed everything off.
Here were some of her excuses:
About the bib: «I forgot to take it off.»
The binky: «Oh, well she can’t pick it up to put it in her mouth anyway.» (Hello… clearly she went down with the wrong binky.)
The blanket: «It gets cold in here sometimes, she always sleeps with a blanket.» (ALWAYS SLEEPS WITH A BLANKET??? We discussed this with Melody before even bringing her there that she is never to sleep with a blanket. That’s like the number one rule to prevent SIDS! Any infant room teacher should know that.)
About being unattended for so long & a small child letting me in: «I was busy, we are understaffed today.»
WOW. Seriously. So many things wrong here!
I could have been a child molester, driven a big van, came in & loaded all the kids up & drove away. My daughter could have been suffocated by a blanket or choked by the bib. I left so upset & the woman never even apologized, she just acted like «no big deal.»
The next day I called Melody (since Janet was the only one there w/​all those kids) & explained everything to her. She was very sympathetic & nice until I told her my daughter would not be returning & we wanted our money back. She did say we could come Friday, once the check cleared, for our money back & for the rest of our daughter’s things.
I called Melody Friday afternoon to make sure we could come by that evening & get our money back & everything & she was very cold on the phone & said she’d leave it all in a bag on the porch. My boyfriend went there after work to get the bag & she had not given us a full refund for April like she told me she would. She had deducted the two days my baby was there earlier that week. This was a surprise to us, as we thought we’d get everything back. & sure, I can see maybe being charged for Monday, but Tuesday? The day I walked into chaos & my precious neglected baby girl? We pay for child CARE not child neglect. If I wanted that, I would have just left her at home with our cat while we worked all day. I can’t believe she charged us for Tuesday.
This is one of the most upsetting & disappointing things I have ever experienced. I feel absolutely awful for my daughter, who did nothing to deserve this. She is a sweet baby, & I’m not just saying that because I’m her mother, she really is a good baby. This place is out of control. They are understaffed, do not have reliable back-​up if someone cannot work for whatever reason, the kids are left to run-​free, the babies are left to cry, while the parents are left with the bill.