My name is Nicole. I am a 25 year-old new mother of one. I created Mia's Place solely for parents to have a safe, affordable place to leave their children while they are at work.
I have been involved in childcare management for 8+ years. I supervised a childcare of 20+ children, ages ranging 8weeks to 12 years old, for 5 years. I was a personal household nanny all throughout high school. I have completed several child development courses and am CPR and First Aid certified. I always wanted to have my own daycare center. In college I took a few Interior Design courses and always dreamed of how much fun it would be to decorate my own daycare center.
After I had my daughter in November 2007, it was getting time for me to return to work. I kept thinking of how hard it would be not to be around my daughter all day, and mainly, how I wouldn't be able to afford daycare. I searched around and found daycare prices to be outrageous, and hiring a personal nanny would be even more expensive. I started thinking about my dreams of owning a daycare, and how convenient that would be for me right now. Financially, however, I was not ready to open one up. I started looking into babysitting. I interviewed with a family who wanted me to start right away! I was so greatful. I always loved taking care of children. I love watching them grow and develop before your eyes. Being a part of that is so amazing to me. Then, I reviewed my finances. I found that babysitting would not cover half of my expenses and in the meantime, I would still need to find a sitter for my daughter. It was extremely disappointing.
After some thought about my situation, I went on Craigslist. I looked for families that needed childcare and who would be willing to let me watch their little ones in my home. This way I would be able to stay at home with my daughter and look after other children...my dream! To my surprise, I had a lot of responses! Families saw my background and wanted to interview with me immidiately. I set up about 6 interviews that week...
...Four months later I found myself contracted with six families. I was able to start my own business, hire assistants, and most importantly, stay at home and raise my daughter. I'm living my dream.
Mia's Place is a great place to be. I work with nothing but the BEST families. Our prices our reasonably low. I wanted to be able to give parents an opportunity that I didn't have. Being able to leave your children somewhere safe and yet having it be affordable is hard to find. Mia's Place makes that all possible.
We will never have more than 8 children under our care. With two employees, I find that it is the most sufficient way of knowing every child gets all the attention that he/she needs at ALL times! Unlike daycare centers, where there are 20+ children and only a few caretakers. Mia's Place is a place to prepare your child for school and interaction with other children. It's a safe place to have fun, learn and grow.
We live in a smoke free and pet free home. All of our toys are thoroughly sanitized weekly.
If you bring your child to Mia's Place, I can guarentee, they won't want to leave! It's just that great.
~Nicole Dugger
Childcare Director
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