Our son has been with Granny Goose since he was 6mos old, about a year and a half and we love the staff and environment. In a nutshell: I love that it's a small home environment, that Valerie was a preschool teacher so offers many craft projects, outdoor and enrichment opportunities and we're thrilled that my son is also learning Spanish, thanks to Miss Karina. We highly recommend Granny Goose daycare! And, as a queer family, they're been only 100% supportive (about pronouns, what my babe calls my partner, etc.), which was really important for us. 

The Details: Going back to work full-time was so hard, as every Bay Area parent can relate to: inflexible job, coordinating the commute time, finding a daycare that felt good and would meet our needs (without making us feel like sh*t that we're both working full-time), etc. So, I was a little crazy when we were looking for a daycare - I was not about to drop off my sweet precious baby just anywhere, whatever the price, while my pragmatic, grounded in reality dudewife helped us focus on what we could afford (hormones are no joke, she was a saint during this process). We had visited giant centers (how the heck will MY baby be held enough with that many babies?!) and a home based daycare with TRASH piled in front (are you kidding me? At least hide that in the back), so in that last month or so, I was a LUNATIC. I was threatening to quit my job and homeshool forever (amen for mamas that do, but I might as well have talked about going to the moon, as unrealistic as that is for me), while crying to my bestie, she connected me with queer friends that loved their daycare. In that's how we met Valerie! Honestly, I made up my mind the minute we walked in and met her - I was sold. If I couldn't love and snuggle my babe all day, I felt confident that Valerie (and staff) would, that he would get the attention and care I expected. Baby loves going to "school" and he often talks about the other kids and staff over the weekend and on vacations. I feel like being around different ages has really helped his development, like walking, language development, playing with other kids, etc. While it's hard that their first moments may be at daycare (like walking! cue mama sobbing), it really helped that Valerie celebrates the moments with us and is as geniunely thrilled as we are. She also hosts a number of fun events throughout the year to bring the families (current and past) together - dudewife is already counting down the days till Harvest Festival. As we start to look at preschools, it's been great to see that our kid is right on track and will likely transition really well, thanks to the great and enriching environment Valerie and staff provide the kids.