January 25th

2010

8:45 AM

Thursday

Jerald was in the home office, searching the internet for an available daycare to enroll his son into. He’s using a FrutiAero 7 Desktop Computer: the latest model of the FrutiAero Series, which was released last year. He had the day off from work today, due to his hard work at the company recently. 

The whole device had a transparent white and blue color theme, allowing the user to see all the wiring and computer chips inside. 

His search had gone on for several weeks, due to the fact that most early education facilities were out of spots for new students. It greatly annoyed the father, who just wanted to find the perfect place for his son. 

“There has to be a place that has spots left for enrollment. It’s important that my son gets a good education!” said the man as he continued to search. 

After browsing for an additional ten minutes, the man had come across a website for a daycare that was open for registering new students, for a limited time that is. The perfect opportunity was found!

“Eccelente! I found it!” shouted Jerald excitedly. 

His wife entered the room after hearing her husband shouting, she was currently holding a white coffee mug filled with black coffee. She’d say “Did you find an available daycare?”

“Si, I believe it may be the perfect place. It’s called Little Hearts, and there are limited spots available. We should take the opportunity and get him enrolled as soon as possible.” said the husband.

“That’s wonderful news, I’m sure our son will be excited to hear the news.” said Marian as she looked at the website. 

According to the online page, it mentioned that the daycare was in the city itself and that it had a positive reputation with many citizens of Rorkesburg. There were different sections of the website to explore: Floor Map, Lesson List, Important Information, Registration, Field Trips, Special Needs, About Us, Extra Credit Opportunities, and etc. 

“How interesting… so much on this one website, let’s check out the About Us section.” said Jerald as the man clicked on it. Watching as it loaded up a baby-blue colored webpage decorated with a starry border. Both parents began to read the text displayed on the page. 

Little Hearts Daycare is a wonderful education facility that has the support of Kim Dae Joon of the United Populist Coalition. It was founded on June 13th 1999 by Ghilian J Farksworth, and opened on July 15th, 2005.  

Many children can struggle with learning certain subjects, which is why we focus on how we educate our students. Our staff do their best to treat them with respect, and properly discipline when needed. 

Parents around the city have given positive reviews on Education Advisor, saying that we are the best at helping children prepare for further schooling. We strive to have the best staff in our facility. 

Choose the best for your child’s future, and enroll your student at our city daycare in Rorkesburg. Spots are limited!

Located on Fourth Avenue across from Pink Beauty and Ironbrick Pizza

“That’s very reassuring, but I do wonder… What is the United Populist Coalition? I haven’t heard of them before.” said the father.

“Neither have I, honey.” said Marian. 

Jerald decided to click on the Registration section, and watched as the computer loaded a page that had a digital registration form, along with a message down below that said: 

You can also enroll your child at the daycare, if you want to take a tour before making up your mind.

“I’d like that personally, since it’d allow us to see what there is before we enroll him,” said Jerald.

“Agreed, It’s good to observe everything before making the next move.” said his wife as she took the mouse from her husband. “How about we look at the important information area before we head out. It should have something useful?”

“Good idea, mia moglie.” the man said as his wife moved the digital pointer and clicked it. 

They both looked over all the important information, which detailed everything from the cost of enrollment to important rules regarding behavior of students and parents who attend meetings, including information about the United Populist Coalition. 

Once the parents had read up on everything, they went into the living room where their son was. Marian made sure to grab the diaper bag on the way down. 

David was so focused on watching Dino Heroes, that he didn’t notice his parents entering the living room, switching off the television with the remote. The boy was wearing  brown-white striped polo shirt with black jeans, and dark-brown socks.

“Chee Cosa? Huh?” He asked as his father knelt down to his level. The tiger cub stared at his lips, right below the center of his eyesight. 

“Good news, mio figlio. We found a daycare for you, one where you’ll be able to learn and make new friends!” said Jerald as he picked up his son. 

“Really?” said the tiger cub in a surprised tone. 

“Sí, and I’m sure you’ll love it!” said the father as he placed his son over his left shoulder. 

His wife was already waiting at the door, holding the car keys in the left palm of her hands while carrying a white diaper bag in the other. She watched as Jerald helped his little boy put on his shoes before they headed outside the door.

The stroller was brought along as well, and placed in the trunk of the family minivan after being folded up. Marian decided to be the one the driver, while her husband got David strapped into his car seat. 
Jerald got into the front passenger seat, making sure to buckle in as his wife drove off to the daycare. The little tiger cub brought along his two dinosaur plushies, something to entertain him for the trip. 

The trip into the city itself didn’t take too long, but there was a traffic delay that lasted for five minutes. Marian didn’t expect this to happen, and decided to just shrug it off since it wasn’t worth complaining about. 

Weather in the city was warmer for January, with the temperature being in the fifties for this day. They had snow for the last few days, but it didn’t stick around for long since it melted.

After seven minutes, they arrived on Fourth Avenue and drove their vehicle into a parking lot located near a large building with a rectangular sign out front that said ‘Little Hearts Daycare: Teaching The Next Generation!” 

Marian looked at the exterior of the building, which was composed of cream-colored bricks. The silver glass door served as the entrance inside, which had big decorative toy blocks with blue hearts on them. Including a few square windows that showed the lobby inside. It also had a flat square roof. 

The pathway to it was made of simple-gray concrete, and  was in good condition since there were no cracks or any signs of degradation.

“Wow, that’s a pretty cute daycare, I love the toy block decorations!” said the wife as she parked the vehicle in an open spot. 

“Agreed, it’s simple yet elegant.” said the husband as the car engine was turned off with a simple turn of the keys. 

David looked out the windows, and looked at the front entrance with curiosity. He wondered if this was the place. His father looked at him and said “We are here, my boy!”

“Yay!” exclaimed the tiger cub.

“Would you like to be in your stroller, or simply walk?” asked the mother. 

The little cub thought about it for five seconds and said “I wanna walk!” as his father let out a small chuckle. 
“Okay sweetie, but make sure to stick close to mommy and daddy,” said Marian. 

“It’ll be good for his legs,” said Jerald. “Did you bring any important documentation with us?”

“Yeah, I brought the birth certificate, and David’s passport. It’s all in the diaper bag.” said the wife.

“Good, they’d likely want to see identification,” said the husband. 

The Lavinzos exited the car, and headed through the glass door that led to the indoor lobby of the facility. David made sure to hold onto his father’s right hand while going through.

As they entered the building, they were met with a hallway with light-blue walls and white marble floor. Along the right side were two dark-brown wooden doors, golden rectangular plates on the front of them indicated what was inside. They had the labels of Registration Office and Custodian Closet. 

On the right side were a few cork boards that had important information for staff and parents. Including a big blue heart wall decoration with some student drawings on them. 

“It’s rather peaceful right now… perhaps we came at the right time,” said Marian as she looked at the doors.

“Ooooo.” said the tiger cub as he swished his tail around.

“It’s probably a day off for the kiddos, which is opportune for us,” said Jerald. 

The first door is slowly opened by a female dark-red fox with black reading glasses, dark-black flowing hair, black tap shoes, and a dark-brown female business suit. She looked at the visitors with her dark-red eyes, gently approaching them. This lady was a registrar who handled all enrollments. 

“Greetings, and welcome to Little Hearts Daycare. May I have your name please?” said the lady as the family turned towards her. She’d glance at the tiger cub for a moment before looking at the parents.

“Salve, Signora. Io sono Jerald. Lo sono di Sicily.  Lei é Marian, and lui é David. My wife and son.” said the man as he looked at the two, smiling towards them. 

The individual was surprised to hear someone speaking in Italian, since she hadn’t met anyone from Italy before. At least from what she remembered. 

“A pleasure to meet you three, I’m Jerine but you can call me Jeri. Would you like a tour of our facility?” She said, 

“Si, per favore. It’d be an honor.” said Jerald. 

“Gratzi!” said David in his Italian accent.

“What a cutie you’ve got there, sounds like he knows some Italian as well.” said Jeri

“He’s gained an interest in learning it, so my husband teaches him a bit when he can.” said Marian. 

“That is pretty logical.” said Jerine as she gestured towards the glass door at the end of the hallway. “Anyways… come with me through that door. It leads to the main c-shaped hall where all the rooms are located.“ 

“Okay.” said the mother.

The group followed behind her, and headed into the hallway that had doors to the other rooms in the facility. Marian looked around at the cream-white walls, which were decorated with more drawings. 

David looked at all the pictures hanging on the wall, since they were pretty interesting to him. Especially one that looked like a fish. 

“As you see here, this is the main hallway that leads to all the rooms. These are the rooms in this part of the facility: Quiet Room, Sprouts Room, Tulip Room, Medical Office, Kitchen, and Meeting Room for important discussions about events or anything else.” said Jeri. 

“That’s good to know, but where do younger children get placed?” asked the mother.

“The Sprouts Room, since that’s our designated area for children aged one to three, we’ll go there first for part of our tour, it’s right in front of this wooden door right here marked with a sprout.” said the woman. 

Jerine opened the wooden door, and led the family right inside. The father of the tiger cub let go of his son’s hand, letting him look around. David looked around the area, simply mystified yet amazed at what he saw.

The entire room had a sky-blue dinosaur themed carpeted floor, with walls covered in light-blue wallpaper with white polka dots. All furnishings in the room were dino-themed, especially the bookshelf and toy chests. There was a female leopard with dark-green eyes cleaning up some left out toys, she donned a light-orange dress with white tap shoes. 

“Hello?” asked David as he looked at the lady before redirecting his eyesight to her mouth. 

“Oh? We have visitors, it seems.” said the leopard. 

“Morning Maddie, these folks are taking a tour before considering signing up their child for daycare.” the fox said. 

“Greetings Signora,” said Jerald. 

“Hello there.” said Marian.

“A pleasure to meet you, I’m Madelina but you can call me Miss Maddie. I’m one of the teachers here.” said the teacher as she knelt down, looking over at the tiger cub who was staring at his dinosaur plushie. “What’s your name, little one?”

“I uh.. I’m David.” said the tiger cub as he shyly looked to the side. 

“I hope to have you as one of my students.” said Madeline as she noticed his unusual behavior. “You’re certainly a unique kid, especially with that accent of yours.”

“He’s autistic, and was diagnosed after his second birthday. He’s not fond of extremely loud noises and has trouble keeping direct eye contact. David is an honest and slightly energetic child, his accent comes from my side from the family.” said the father.

“Yup, he’s half-italian on my husband’s side.” said the mother. 

“That’s certainly interesting to know about,” said Jerine. 

“May I hold him?” asked Maddie. 
“Go ahead, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” said Marian. 

The teacher picked up the tiger cub, making sure to support his bottom with one of her hands. David curiously looked at her dress, including her wavy black hair. He then redirected his eyes towards her paws. 

“Aren’t you a cute little tiger?” said the leopard as she gently rubbed the cub’s back. 

This elicited a positive response from the child, hearing a loud purr coming from his vocal cords. The boy enjoyed being held, even if they were a stranger. He trusted them for now. 

“If you want, I can show you two the meeting room and the medical office we have on site,” said Jeri. 

“That’d be wonderful, would it be alright to have our son in the room for the time being?” asked the father.

“Sure, I don’t mind one bit. I may also take him to the quiet room as well.” said Miss Maddie. 

“How about it son? Want to spend some more time in this room?” the mother asked her son.

“Yes mamma!” said the tiger cub as he kept purring. 

“Okay then, have fun!” said Marian. 

“Before we go… one more thing to mention. Both rooms are connected by a single glass door. Just in case a child is being transferred.” said the fox lady as the two parents looked at the door, which showed the other room. It was similar to the current area, just with different wallpaper and carpeting. 

“Interesting… not a bad idea,” said Jerald. 

“Indeed so, and thanks to support from Kim Daejoon and the United Populists Coalition, it made the construction of this daycare possible.”  said Madeline.

“Ah, them. We’ve both read up about them, they are a group made up of small business owners in Rorkesburg. Even the owner sounds like a nice man.” said the father. 
“Very good, that’s correct. I’d like to introduce you to him sometime, but he’s probably busy.” said the red-fox as she gestured towards the room exit. 

The couple was led out of the room, while David played with the teacher that was in the Sprouts Room. They both interacted with each other, utilizing many of the toys in the room. Miss Madie even built some little block structures, watching as the tiger cub pretended to be a big dinosaur and knocked them down. 

Outside of the rooms was a custodian dusting off the walls a bit, waving to Jeri as she walked by with the parents. Jerald waved to the man and said “Salve.” as he followed the registrar to the medical office. 

Jerine arrived at the Medical Office, and opened the wooden door after unlocking the door with a key she had in her pockets. The interior had cream-white walls and a tan wooden floor. It had five small medical beds along with a medicine cabinet and small examination table. This Includes a desk for the nurse to sit and make calls at.

“This is a very sterile room, which I don’t mind,” said Marian.

“It’s quite plain, but we have one of the nicest nurses here. She’s currently on break for today, and is spending time at home.” said the receptionist. 

“That’s very assuring.” said Jerald.

“When it comes to sanitation, we make sure all rooms are cleaned and sterilized for the sake of  keeping it germ free,” said Jeri. 

“Which means, the likelihood of anyone getting sick would be significantly decreased?” asked the man. 

“Exactly!” said the registrar. “Now, onto the meeting room. It’s a bit fancy of an area.”

The dark-red fox closed the door and locked it up before bringing the parents over to the meeting room. While that was happening, Miss Madeline was in the Quiet Room with David, giving him a backrub while he sat on a comfy child-sized bean-bag, emitting a loud purr. 

He is enjoying the time he was spending with the teacher, and she actually enjoyed his presence. The little tiger cub stared at the dark-blue starry walls while his little feet touched the silky light-gray carpet. 
This room had some cribs and toddler beds, just in case anyone needed a nap in-between lessons or some quiet time when things got too loud, along with a little book shelf on the wall for those who wanted to read a book while spending time in the area. 

“Do you like it here, David?” Miss Madeline asked.

“Ahuh, it’s really nice…” said the tiger cub. “After all… I only have one friend, and that is Jacy.” David smiled a bit after thinking about that boy.

“Jacy eh? Is he a nice young man?” the teacher asked.

“Yup, he even let me play his guitar,” said David. 

“Wonderful dear, and if your parents agree to enroll you at this daycare… you’d make a lot more. But it’s good you have a friend, because they are nice to have in life.” said Miss Maddie. 

“Yay!” said the tiger cub as he let out a sudden yawn.

“Awww… is someone a sleepy little tiger cub?” asked the teacher as she picked up the boy.

“Ahuh, real sleepy….” said David as he fell asleep while being held. 

The female leopard smiled as she placed the boy in one of the cribs, and gently tucked him in. She’d watch over him and waited for his parents to return. She was hoping that this child would be in the next class of students. 

One hour later….

Jerald and Marian were sitting in the registration office, a rather fancy and chic office with paintings hung upon the dark-brown walls, the flooring was composed of dark-brown polished oak wood. After the tour had concluded, they decided together on enrolling their boy into the daycare. 

The registrar was searching through her desk for an enrollment form, since she had a lot of papers to file at the end of the day. 

“Let’s see… where’s that form….” said Jeri as she pulled out a single sheet of yellow paper after twenty minutes of searching. “Here it is! Sorry for the wait…”

“It’s understandable, it can’t be easy working as a registrar.” said Marian as she was handed the form by the dark-red fox. 

“I’ll agree with that one!” said the registrar as she dusted off her business suit for a bit as she smiled towards them.. “Just sign this form and provide documentation of his identity.”

“I’ll fill out the form while you get out his birth certificate,” said Jerald.

“That’ll work perfectly… thank you honey.” said his wife. 

The husband focused on filling out the form with a pen that was provided by the registrar while his wife went through the diaper bag and pulled out a laminated birth certificate, handing it to Jerine. 

Jeri began to examine the birth certificate. Just in case anything seemed off about it, she knows what fake documentation looks like, since they were trained to spot it off the bat.

After it was scrutinized in great detail, she smirked and handed it back to the mother who placed it back in the diaper bag. 

“Thank you, it’s a legitimate birth certificate. Rorkesburg General Hospital is one of the best medical facilities in the city. Here at Little Hearts Daycare, we make sure all documentation is official. Can’t have any illegal identification passing through.” said the dark-red fox as she switched her laptop on. 

“That is understandable, which shows your dedication to keeping everything in check. I like that.” said Jerald as he handed the completed form to her. 

“Alright then… looks like everything is good here. For additional lessons, there will be sign-ups sent out later on. But for now, David will become an official student of our daycare.” said Jerine as a knock at the office door was heard. “Come in!”

Miss Maddie opened the door, watching as David quickly toddled over to his mother and father.

“Mamma, padre!” exclaimed the tiger cub.

“Hey David, did you have a wonderful time?” asked Marian.

“He certainly did, I put him down for a nap in the Quiet Room since he was feeling tired.” the teacher said with a smile. 

“That’s great to hear!” said Jerald as he picked up his boy, who stared at his suit coat with a smile. “We’ve got good news for you, mio figlio. You’ve been signed up for daycare! Now you’ll be learning and making friends, like the rest of the children!”

“Yay! I’m excited!” exclaimed David as he wiggled around. 

“Hehehe, I can certainly see that my boy. Now… let’s head home and celebrate with a delicious pot of fettuccine al burro.” said the father as he put his son down on the ground.

“Oh, and before you go….!” said the registrar as she got out a paper calendar and put it in front of them. “This is for keeping track of the days students attend lessons from Monday-Friday. It also includes important holidays, lessons being taught, parent meetings, and much more.” 

“Thank you, we’ll be sure to keep this in the kitchen,” said the mother. “Have a good day!”

“Arrivederci,” the father said as he waved goodbye.

“Bye bye!” said the tiger cub as he firmly held his father’s right hand.

After everything had been finished up, the small family left the daycare and got back into the dark-blue minivan. Driving back to the neighborhood of Red Leaf Way. The little tiger cub was looking forward to learning and making friends at Little Hearts Daycare, wondering what the next day would bring him.