I have a son, two actually, but my oldest is now 22 years old. Back when he was small my wife worked for a large grocery chain in Southern California and needed to find daycare for him. She found a woman, a wonderful woman who was conveniently located on the next street over from us. Cost of this daycare in 1990, $125.00 a week. Just for the record, we lived in Sylmar, what I would have considered a lower-middle-class suburb north of Los Angeles, not in some high dollar district like Huntington Beach.

Fast forward to today, my wife who has almost 20 years of experience as a preschool teacher at places like Kindercare and as an in-home provider has an in-home daycare. She’s invested in a separate couch for our largest room that she uses for her business. Outback we have an 8 in 1 climber, several smaller climbers, trucks and other outdoor toys. Inside she has daycare shelves, racks and an abundance of toys. This year she purchased an LED TV and we wall mounted it so kids can watch educational DVDs. She has preschool supplies including crayons, art paper, paint, you name it. What does she ask for 45 hours of daycare each week, the same $125.00 we paid 21 years ago. The market, you, will not pay more.f

It seems as if there is a race to the bottom in rates for daycare. Just this morning she went on to Craigs List to put up her daily ad and was appalled to see someone had set a new low price, $75.00 a week for full-time care. Some of you probably just said “oh wow” and wished I’d post this person’s phone number. For these people, I want to reach through your computer screen and tap you good and hard on the forehead. What are you thinking? What do you actually expect to get for…lets figure your child is there for 45 hours a week so…$1.66 per hour? Come on…really, especially since most advertise they include meals and snacks? Subtract utilities, the cost of supplies and you’ve got someone you’re trusting your child’s safety to for what…75 cents an hour…really???

My wife feeds her customers the same healthy meals she feeds our family, we don’t eat trash. Food costs money, toys cost money, the insurance policy we have to protect both my wife and children cost money. For $1.66 an hour, my wife could never afford to have purchased the 8 in 1 her customers enjoy. She could have never afforded to spend $400 for indoor educational entertainment. She could have never afforded individual sleeping mats that she also spends money to sterilize weekly or individual blankets.

It’s funny because as you drop your prices to try and accommodate the needs of more people, the people tend to become more demanding. One customer had my wife feeding her children breakfast, lunch and dinner, it got ridiculous and she finally let them go. My wife says she could try and compete, but any of the extras would go, she could not afford them. She’d also have to do like some of the low-cost providers do and take in many more children. Many of the low-cost providers do exactly this. My wife personally knows a woman that has up to 20 children at a time during Summer vacation, definitely not legal, definitely not safe. How many children could you really keep track of?

It’s sort of ironic because a few months back a woman came in for an interview with her daughter, took the contract, said she wanted to check out a cheaper place nearby and then we never heard from here again, until last week. She had another appointment with my wife and reported that she personally saw the cheaper provider inappropriately disciplining anther child. It worried her enough to pull her daughter out, so she said. She said her daughter cried each day when they arrived, so what could she do but wonder if her daughter wasn’t being treated the same. I’m not saying all low-cost providers hit children, just citing a recent example.

We all seem to understand that you get what you pay for, but somehow this does not seem to translate over to the safety of our children. Here in our area, there is a weeks-long search for a missing little girl. Each day we hear the grieving mother plead for help to locate her missing treasured child, I’m sure we would all do the same…until it comes to childcare. Then the rules change, then too many in society could almost care less if the place they stay is devoid of any intellectual stimulation these young minds crave so much. Then it’s all about the money.

I picture these same people making their daily stop at Starbucks in the new car they can barely afford to lease, running into to grab today’s pack of cigarettes, busy texting away on their fancy new iPhone with the $100.00 a month data plan, but their child, they only warrant the absolute cheapest that society can provide. These people are searching the internet for someone just a little bit cheaper each and every week. Heaven forbid that a parent should have to alter their lives in any way, should have to sacrifice any desire to accommodate the needs and safety of their children.

Go ahead, I’m sure the $75 a week daycare provider is diligently caring for your child’s needs rather than sticking them in a room to watch Sponge Bob all day, Didn’t I read something recently about how watching Sponge Bob drops your child’s IQ measurably? Nobody expects the blue and white box of generic whatever to taste as good as the real stuff, why should daycare be any different. Oh, wait…I’ve got it! They’re watching your child for almost no profit because they love children…right?

If it looks like a broken down junker if it drives like a broken down junker, if it…you get the point. Step up America, these are the people that will decide what retirement home you’ll be in someday. This is why paying attention to their education is really important. There is Early Education & Daycare in Houston that is of the most reliable institution in terms of childcare and early education. With their professional and passionate facilitators, you can relax about the future of your kids and yours as well.