Photo by Lisa Bicknell
Yvette Young, at right in red, opened Playtime Daycare more than 20 years ago. The business has grown a lot over the years. Yvette says she typically sees 70 to 80 kids a day now.
A little more than 20 years ago, Yvette Young decided to take a leap of faith and open a daycare.
She was working in the school system but wanted to run her own business so she could raise her son David and work at the same time. (Yvette laughs that he is an only child but was raised with many kids. He’s now about to graduate from Berea College.)
Yvette opened her daycare in the building on River Drive where she is currently located, but she started with only two rooms, four employees and about twenty kids.
Now the entire building is occupied by Playtime Daycare. There are brightly painted and cheerily decorated rooms set up for four and five year-olds, two and three year-olds, one year-olds, six month to one year-olds, and newborns.
Yvette employs 17 full and part-time staff, and she typically takes in 70 to 80 kids a day. They serve breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, and at 5 p.m., another snack.
Her days begin around 4:45 a.m., and the daycare closes at 6 p.m. That makes for some long and busy hours, but the daycare runs like a well-oiled machine. She says she’s learned a lot over the course of the past 20 years.
The facility is state licensed, and all staff are trained in CPR and first aid, although state rules only require one person in the building to be certified. All staff members have 15 hours of training per year.
The daycare is not just a babysitting facility. Every day the kids participate in art and music lessons and have books read to them and a lesson to complete.
“My kids are usually ready for kindergarten,” Yvette assures. Some of them come back and work for her after they graduate.
“I love my job,” she said. “I’ve watched so many kids grow up.”
She hopes to still be doing it for many years to come.
Yvette will be hosting a 20 year celebration at the fair barn on March 30 from 11 to 2 p.m., for all staff and children, past and present, who have been a part of Playtime Daycare.
“I want to thank the county for supporting my business,” she said.