Kidz Drop In Naperville: Life Saver for Local Moms

I found it interesting when I learned of a recent study that stated Naperville to be the "third best city in the country to find babysitters." (Sittercity.com)

Up until August of this year, I was thrilled with my child care arrangement. I had a high school girl come over to help out a couple days a week for a few hours at a time so that I could get things done around the house, run errands and work on my many projects for the Naperville Moms Network.

When my sitter moved off to college, I never dreamed it would be so difficult to find a replacement that would be a good fit. Actually, I still haven't found someone that can help me out during the week. 

Thankfully, Kidz Drop In opened up in October behind Naperville North High School and it turned out to be the answer to my prayers!

Kidz Drop In is a flexible child care facility offering local families the option for full time, part time and drop in care. They take children ranging from 6 weeks old to 13 years old and are open 6:30 a.m. till midnight. I also love that they provide fresh, gourmet, organic meals and snacks daily, so I don't have to worry about packing any of that for my son, Brady when I'm dropping him off. They have teachers for each age group and designated rooms with age appropriate toys and activities.

I could go on and on about everything they have to offer and what makes them unique, but ultimately, the one thing that has me raving and wanting to tell EVERYONE I know about this new child care option for local families, is the fact that Brady is thrilled about going there. 

He leaps out of my arms to give "Miss Shari" a hug, then runs off to play with his favorite friend, Megan. When I arrive to pick Brady up, his face lights up and he wants to show me all of his favorite toys of the day. Another bonus is that I've noticed a significant increase in his language and overall social skills. 

As if that's not enough, I've also enjoyed having a few hours to focus on some of the things I need to get accomplished and don't feel guilty because I know that he's happy and in great hands. Priceless! 

Kidz Drop In Naperville has a great special holiday offer running right now through December 23rd. It's called "Drop and Shop" and once your child is registered, you can drop them off and get the first hour FREE!

If you're a mom looking for child care options, do yourself a favor and stop in to check out Kidz Drop In at 420 W. 5th Avenue.

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/naperville_mamas/#ixzz18LNbFChr

I'm amazed at the amount of candy this first time trick-or-treater came home with! 

Our son, Brady was a lion this year. Of course, I found him to be absolutely adorable and couldn't get enough of him in his costume! We started to practice wearing the costume a few weeks in advance so we could enjoy a fuss free Halloween. Brady hated the costume at first, but once we taught him to ROAR with it on and made a big deal about how great he looked, he stopped fighting it. The plan worked!

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, we attended the Kidz Drop In Open House and Halloween Party. Kidz Drop In is a new childcare facility that offers drop in care as well as full and part time care. In case you're curious, they're located behind Naperville North High School on Mill and 5th. It was great! Brady got to meet lot's of new little friends, play games and enjoy Halloween treats.

On Sunday, we went to a friend's house to take Brady trick-or-treating for the first time, along with his little pal, Braxton. They rode together in a wagon collecting absurd amounts of candy from each house. It was laughable what these too first timers came home with! 

Of course, Brady and Braxton are too young for all of this candy and mom and dad certainly  have no business keeping all of that temptation around the house. Turns our there's a great solution out there! Have you heard of Halloween Candy Buy Back?

Halloween Candy Buy Back is a great program where dentists all over the country are offering to buy back your Halloween candy at $1 per pound, then donate it to Operation Gratitude, which then ships the candy off to our troops. It's a great opportunity to teach our children about giving back (if they're old enough to understand)! Or in our case, it's a great way to unload the temptation and give back.

It's pretty simple, go the website and type in your zip code to find out all of the participating locations in your area. 

What did you do over Halloween weekend? And how do you respond when your kids come home with pillowcases full of candy?