Welcome to another provider profile, where we highlight the great childcare workers in Durham Region!

Name: Tamara

Family: Married to Ken for almost 9 years and we have three wonderful children. Connor is 7, Sierra is 5 and Callum is 20 months. We also have two bunnies named Hoppy and Pumpkin.

Daycare type & location: Tamara’s Tots Home Daycare, located in North Oshawa.

How long in business: 5 years in home daycare and 3 years in a centre.

Why did you decide to become a childcare provider?: I missed working with kids and wanted to be home with my own children.

What’s your favourite part of the day?: Circle time. I love seeing the kids dance and sing and express themselves. They are little balls of energy.

What do you find most challenging about your job?: Scheduling. Trying to get everything done and spend quality time with the kids too.

What makes you unique?: I help run a local home daycare provider group (Childcare Providers Unite). This group has allowed me to be a better provider and parent. We meet on a regular basis to learn new things, exchange ideas and plan lots of wonderful field trips to take the kids on.

Favourite memory as a provider: Hearing the kids call each other their best friends. They are so little, but they form such bonds.

If you could change one thing, what would it be?: To have a bigger playroom. It’s always nice to have more room to do more fun activities.

Welcome to another provider profile, where we highlight the great childcare workers in Durham Region!

Name: Moyra Stephen

Family: I have two wonderful sons, aged 30 and 29; my youngest son has cerebral palsy, and was the inspiration for starting Cardinal Nannies and Companions Inc. 23 years ago.

Daycare type & location: Cardinal Nannies is a caregiver placement agency in Whitby. We hire and place nannies for children and caregivers for the elderly and those with special needs throughout Durham Region. We handle requests from families for short term, and long term, part-time and full-time, live-in and live-out care. We place live-in nannies, from Quebec and the Maritimes, or here from overseas on a work permit, anywhere in Canada, and abroad.

How long in business: I started December 1, 1985.

Why did you decide to become a childcare provider?: My personal experience was providing in-home daycare for children. I also volunteered in a hospital with children, the elderly, and with special needs. My professional background was in marketing. Then I had a son with special needs. It was very difficult to find appropriate providers for his care, so that was why I established Cardinal Nannies.

What’s your favourite part of the day?: I enjoy early mornings. I watch the sunrise, and prepare for each new day with curiosity, wondering what will be different about it, and wondering what I will know at the end of the day, that I didn’t know at the beginning.

What do you find most challenging about your job?: I am very mindful of the responsibility I have in placing caregivers in families’ homes, and endeavouring to find the right nanny for each family, and the right family for each nanny.

What makes you unique?: We give each families’ request our personal attention, and we genuinely care about all of the people we meet. I personally interview the nanny applicants and meet many of the families before arranging for them to interview caregivers. Most families choose the first person we send them.

Describe some of the interesting backgrounds of your nannies: I have recruited in England and Ireland and the Caribbean as well as hiring nannies from all over the world. These days many come from the Philippines to make a better life for their children. As a mother, I admire their courage in leaving their family behind to come to a new country and work with our families. Many have been taken advantage of, and some have been mistreated, but they still continue to do their job every day.

Favourite memory as a provider: I appreciate the feedback from a client that we found them the perfect nanny, and their children are happy and well cared for.

If you could change one thing, what would it be?: I wish people could be upfront about what they want, and then it’s easier to help them find it.

Welcome to the first of our monthly provider profiles, where we highlight the great childcare workers in Durham!

Name: Mandi Francis

Daycare type: Caterpillar Kids Home Daycare, Whitby, Ontario

How long in business?: Almost four years

Why did you decide to become a childcare provider?: I’ve actually never done anything but work with children. I’ve worked in daycare centres, elementary schools, swimming pools, and libraries. Becoming a home childcare provider seemed like the ‘next step’ for me after I became a parent myself.

What’s your favourite part of the day?: There are so many aspects of my job that I love!! My favourite part has to be greeting the children each morning when they arrive at daycare. They are so happy to see their friends and excited about the upcoming day.

What do you find most challenging about your job?: Definitely time management!

What makes you unique?: My passion to bring professionalism into home childcare
makes me unique. It’s my strong believe that the same health and safety
standards should be followed in a home childcare setting as they are in centre-based care.
I would really like to see home childcare settings inspected on a regular basis by ministry officials.

If you could change one thing, what would it be?: There aren’t many things that I’d change. Maybe warmer weather so that preparing for outdoor time was easier!?!