Cannon day care - very disappointing

[New Daddy]

Ok, I love Cannon, so this thread is not about bashing the mountain, but a piece of information that other parents might find helpful.
I've patronized day care services at many different mountains, and Cannon's is about the worst based on today's experience:

#1. When we called to make a reservation a few days ago, they said we could just walk in. Nothing wrong with that per se, but I wondered how they were going to manage the kids/care takers ratio, especially on busy MLK weekend. Maybe they have a magic formula.

#2. They didn't put sticky name tags on the back of children. Again, maybe not a big deal, but I could easily imagine a situation where they would mix up kids' names and, i don't know, feed the wrong food (which could be a huge problem for my daughter, as will be explained shortly) or hand the wrong security blanket, etc.

#3. They didn't make any note of food allergy. When my wife told the caretaker that my daughter is allergic to cow's milk, she just nodded her head very nonchalantly. Hopefully she took a physical note of it somewhere after we left. At Okemo, for example, they not only took it down in their file, but they actually put a sticker on my daughter's back saying "I'm allergic to cow's milk".

#4. At noon, my wife called the day care to see how my son was doing, because he had transitioned from ski school in the morning to day care in the afternoon. She only received a terse, "He's doing fine." answer.

#5. Not surprisingly, we didn't receive any daily report about our kids' day at the day care.

Maybe some of these are nitpicky (except for #3), but I've taken them for granted at other day care centers.


To be fair, Cannon's ski school, on the other hand, was pretty good. It was quite crowded when we arrived at around 9:30, but the check-in people were very patient, and their system seemed very well-organized and methodical. And yes, they did give us a daily report about my son's progress.

 

[billski]

Hey new daddy, I think you've hit on a new and very important review category. I don't see anybody reviewing fesort day care anywhere, and of all things, your most important cargo (your kids) this should be critically reviewed. Sorry to be stereotypical, but I don't even see daycare discussed over at Ski Diva forum, since AZ tends to draw mostly males.

I know that when my kids were taking lessons and stuff like that I always checked in with them, and even then, it was a short amount of time. Daycare, well that's often an all-day thing.

Thanks for starting the thread. While my kids are older, I could have used discussions and reviews about such things about 15 years ago.

 

[wa-loaf]

Have you thought about writing a letter to anyone? The food thing seems especially important.

 

[bigbog]

Ditto wa-lof's...but I think the dedication to observation comes with pay-scale....and a Cannon isn't going to pay for a more professional, multiple-person operation that a deeper-pocketed resort would, especially on a MLK wkend..just my $.01. Might want to find something the family can do as a whole after their lessons. Freeskiing time is when they're taking lessons.

$.01

 

[New Daddy]

Have you thought about writing a letter to anyone? The food thing seems especially important.

My wife and I briefly did, and then we decided to shun the mountain instead unless it's an adults-only day trip until my younger kid is old enough to go to ski school.
But maybe we should write to their manager for the benefit of other parents.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

day care is a huge responsibility and they better take it seriously. parents put their faith, trust and hard earned dollars to make sure the little ones are taken care of properly and to give the parents peace of mind so they can enjoy their day on the slopes. I would be all over them with letters, calls and escalate it to the stated. Knock on wood , we've never had an issue with day care, daycare/ski school, ski school....we used the services at the following multiple times....

-Smuggs (top notch facility and staff)
-Bromley (decent facility and friendly professional staff)

things can go bad very quickly when dealing with kids and if a facility does not have its act together, people will hear about it...what you went thru is unacceptable.

 

[WakeboardMom]

My wife and I briefly did, and then we decided to shun the mountain instead unless it's an adults-only day trip until my younger kid is old enough to go to ski school.
But maybe we should write to their manager for the benefit of other parents.

Thank you for considering that option. I'm long past the time when I needed to use daycare; but back in the day I used it extensively. My four kids have been in many facilities at ski areas in the Northeast and in the West. It can be unsettling to think that perhaps your child's needs aren't being properly served; and worse that there could be an element of danger.

Thank you for taking the time to do that.

 

[speden]

Daycare is always a nightmare. I'm so glad my kids are past that age.

If my daughter had a milk allergy, I think I'd come armed with my own stickers and maybe a magic marker to write "No Milk" on her shirt. There are probably multiple caregivers in a place like that and they could easily screw up.

 

[WakeboardMom]

Daycare is always a nightmare. I'm so glad my kids are past that age.

If my daughter had a milk allergy, I think I'd come armed with my own stickers and maybe a magic marker to write "No Milk" on her shirt. There are probably multiple caregivers in a place like that and they could easily screw up.

I don't completely agree that daycare is always a nightmare. I used daycare at many ski areas over the course of 15 years or so...and most times were a positive experience. The other suggestions are fabulous.

(There is one woman at Loon who took care of my four kids from '81 through the mid-90's. She was a lovely, caring grandmotherly person who worked there from when it was nothing but a couple of cribs in a big, drafty room through two more locations on the mountain and incarnations of the facility. Amazing.)

 

[severine]

Thank you for the heads up! Definitely something that is under-reported!

 

[vonski]

It definitely does not sound right!. Over worked and underpaid. Or the flip side. Did they have milk at the daycare. If I ran one of these places, there would be no nuts in the place and probably no dairy either. This way, one would eliminate the exposure to a lot of allergies. But, they should train the staff to identify this to you as it certainly left you wondering if it were the case. And the report on the kid iwith the lessons you need to know how well your kid is doing so you can place him next time. At daycare for a one day holiday, you do not really need to know that he and suzie sunshine had words and he peed five times.
But overall, I would say that it sounds like they need some policy guidelines to follow on better appearance and customer service.

 

[severine]

It definitely does not sound right!. Over worked and underpaid. Or the flip side. Did they have milk at the daycare. If I ran one of these places, there would be no nuts in the place and probably no dairy either. This way, one would eliminate the exposure to a lot of allergies. But, they should train the staff to identify this to you as it certainly left you wondering if it were the case. And the report on the kid iwith the lessons you need to know how well your kid is doing so you can place him next time. At daycare for a one day holiday, you do not really need to know that he and suzie sunshine had words and he peed five times.
But overall, I would say that it sounds like they need some policy guidelines to follow on better appearance and customer service.

I think it would be difficult to disallow dairy, especially if babies are accepted in the daycare. But it wouldn't surprise me on the nuts. Many schools are going nut-free these days.

 

[WakeboardMom]

Thank you for the heads up! Definitely something that is under-reported!

What information is underreported? Apologies...I'm not sure I understand. Underreported to management? Or here?

Do you put your kids in ski daycare? Which mountains? Thanks so much.

 

[severine]

What information is underreported? Apologies...I'm not sure I understand. Underreported to management? Or here?

Do you put your kids in ski daycare? Which mountains? Thanks so much.

Daycare experience is under-reported on the ski message forums that I've seen. No daycare available at our home hill and we're on a tight budget so no, so far we have not utilized on hill daycare (I don't even get away from the home hill all that often for the same reason--have a pass there so the skiing is all paid for already). But it's still good to know for future reference.

 

[WakeboardMom]

Daycare experience is under-reported on the ski message forums that I've seen. No daycare available at our home hill and we're on a tight budget so no, so far we have not utilized on hill daycare (I don't even get away from the home hill all that often for the same reason--have a pass there so the skiing is all paid for already). But it's still good to know for future reference.

Gotcha. Thanks. Yup. Tight budget makes it tough. A full day at day care is usually equal to or greater than a lift ticket. It ain't easy. I had no choice. It was day care or not ski. I/we chose day care. I still have a soft place in my hear for Doris, who took care of all of my kids.

I think everyone here would be shocked and apalled if they saw the "nursery" where I dropped off my first two, I left the first one there at 6 weeks; a year later I left a 6-week-old and a 12-month old. You gotta do whatcha gotta do. Doris gave them lots of love. : -)

A lotta people my age gave up skiing when their kids were little. We never did. It was a huge juggling act (to say nothing of $$) but we never stopped.

Funniest thing ever was when we walked into the nursery at Loon with #4. She's 6 years younger than my third son. Doris: "You guys are baaack???" "Yeah, we are."

 

[severine]

You gotta do what you gotta do to get that time in for yourself! I'm very lucky that our home hill has night skiing so we just take turns a lot or if I'm desperate to get out and my parents are willing, they're on the way to the hill. It's not perfect, and I don't really get up north, but it's better than nothing. Very cool that you had such a caring person to watch your kids at the on-hill daycare!

 

[New Daddy]

I think it would be difficult to disallow dairy, especially if babies are accepted in the daycare. But it wouldn't surprise me on the nuts. Many schools are going nut-free these days.

You don't have to make the facility "dairy-free" for infants with allergy to cow's milk the way you'd have to make a place "peanut-free" for kids with peanut allergy. My daughter is allergic to proteins (caseine, etc.) contained in cow's milk products. As long as she doesn't drink/eat anything with cow's milk protein (cow's milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, etc.), she is fine. As to formula, she is on soy milk. So it is important that they don't feed her anything that we the parents didn't bring. Careless administration of even one spoonful of yogurt would cause her to vomit for the next 24 hours.

 

[severine]

You don't have to make the facility "dairy-free" for infants with allergy to cow's milk the way you'd have to make a place "peanut-free" for kids with peanut allergy. My daughter is allergic to proteins (caseine, etc.) contained in cow's milk products. As long as she doesn't drink/eat anything with cow's milk protein (cow's milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, etc.), she is fine. As to formula, she is on soy milk. So it is important that they don't feed her anything that we the parents didn't bring. Careless administration of even one spoonful of yogurt would cause her to vomit for the next 24 hours.

I agree completely re: the dairy. Just responding to vonski's comment that if he ran a daycare, he'd ban nuts and dairy. My children are actually dairy-sensitive so they can't drink milk, though some cheeses and yogurts are okay, so we've gone through a lot of having to be careful about what they eat, food allergy diet eliminations, etc. I'm not sure how it is run at on-mountain daycares, but I know that when my daughter went to regular daycare before I become a SAHM, children were only given food that their parents brought in from home. That's how it should be for on-mountain care, too...though as they get older, it's probably more difficult to dissuade them from sharing with the other kids.

 

[snoseek]

Whoever mentioned labeling your kids allergies made a whole lot of sense to me.

 

[timm]

Anyone have any experiences with Cannon child care since this post? I am currently debating whether or not to buy a season pass this year (or whether I'll even be able to ski at all really), and without on mountain childcare it's not happening so I'd be curious to hear some feedback....