A huge praise for Waratah Cottage! Our 16-month-old son has started his child care for the very first time at Waratah Cottage in September 2020, the same day when this child care centre newly opened. Like most parents, we have visited various child care centres before and our decision to go to Waratah has turned out to be one of the wisest decisions we have ever made.
Through this 6 week's time, we are so proud and happy to see how our son has grown and become more and more independent, and how cheerful he is every time he goes to Waratah. When he first started at Waratah, he was a toddler who got used to hold onto a furniture or an adult's hand to walk; he got used to be fed by Mum or Dad with a spoon. Two weeks later, we were amazed to find him walk independently by himself around the house, and then outside! During the same period of time, the teachers at Waratah started to give me some hints about how to teach him self-feed at home while they already helped him to self-feed at the centre. I was so grateful for this as I have actually planned since 6 months ago that I must let our little boy self-feed, but I never implemented my plan. With the teachers' support and guidance, I finally felt confident enough to put this into practice. So working together with the teachers, our son is now able to self-feed with a spoon and with his hands.
Among so many other things, here is another thing that I feel so grateful for. Last week, I noticed our little boy was no longer interested in the food I prepared for him at home. I was very frustrated and tried a few different ways, which just did not work. I heard from the teachers that he loves the food at Waratah so much that every time he will ask for more. So I talked to the teachers and the chef at Waratah, who so kindly shared with me her ideas of cooking, and she even put these into writing for me! Immediately I tried at home, and on that evening, my little boy was eating so well and finished all that I have prepared for him. I was so so happy...
Lastly, I just like to share a beautiful moment with you all: last Tuesday, when the teacher told me how independent my son has become, I was in tears, which then made the teacher also burst into tears. For that moment, I felt that we as parents and teachers are jointly witnessing this journey how a little child is growing and we both are touched by it and genuinely happy for this.
Thank you so so much for everything you have done for us, Waratah! I’d love to mention all the names but am cautious of privacy reasons. We started with two days there, and then three days, and now we have increased to four days. Here, all the staff members and teachers genuinely care for our children, and this makes it a place that they look forward to going to day by day.