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Daycare in Cicero Aiding Families in CNY Childcare

Tic Tac Toes Daycare has filled their daycare and plans to open a second

By Madeline Mustion

Tic Tac Toes sign
© 2023 Maddie Mustion

Maddie Mustion: Two year old Christopher is one of the kids that attends Tic Tac Toes Daycare in Cicero. The daycare opened in December and was inspired by the need Jessica and AJ Hines experienced.

Jessica Hines: So I have not always been in child care. As a mother of four, we had to I did have to go back into the workforce. It made it extremely difficult with the lack of childcare options, even to find an in-home private sitter.

Mustion: Their experience is shared by many families in Onondaga County because of the childcare desert. The center for American Progress says that many families struggle to find childcare because of lack of providers. The Hines family has seen this need firsthand.

AJ Hines: We saw a huge need, especially after opening up our first one, when our waitlist literally replenished within the first week of opening.

Mustion: And some of these families even came from over 30 minutes away in order to have their child looked after so they can work.

AJ: There’s a family that comes from Oswego County. She works from home, needs to come here to drop off her baby, to go right back home so that she can work. We’ve got families that are coming from Camillus out here taking a 35-minute drive each way.

Mustion: There is so much need that they have announced that they are opening a second daycare.

Jessica: We were lucky enough to find a center around the corner so we could give our full attention to both within a mile distance from each other.

Mustion: While Tic Tac Toes solves the problem of lack of childcare for many families in Onondaga County, the daycare means so much more

Jessica: So we have actually our oldest daughter has autism. And what I have noticed is that you have to have a special person when it comes to child care with this child of special needs.

Mustion: At tic tac toes, they have started a testing program for young children to see if they have special needs such as Autism, so that the parents don’t have to take time out of their week and make those appointments. This has already helped Carter who is currently being tested.

Jessica: When I saw that there was such a lack of that and a lack of empathy for the children who do learn differently, I wanted to be able to open a safe place for parents to come and know that they’re going to have a full room of people that are going to adjust needs based on their child.

Mustion: Even if a child doesn’t have special needs, their staff emphasizes social and emotional learning.

Nicole Bushnell: Jess and AJ, the owners are super huge on social emotional well-being. So we really like to instill that in each room, I feel like that’s super awesome. I’ve seen it when I come home as a parent, my kids will tell me how they how they did and how they felt. And the teachers are amazing. They are very sweet and caring

Mustion: The children are cared for and the parents can work without worry, but Jess and AJ also are rewarded each day by this experience…

Jessica: It’s really cool to see it come together and to be able to make that change and to see the smile and just a mom’s face, to know she can go to work and not have to worry about her child. It’s just a really rewarding feeling.

Mustion: In Cicero, Maddie Mustion N-C-C news

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Finding childcare in Central New York is a struggle for families because of the lack of childcare providers in the area. According to the Center for American Progress, majority of central New York is in a childcare desert because there are so many families that need caretakers for their children.

Jessica and AJ Hines struggled with finding childcare for their four children, which caused Jessica to quit working and become a stay-at-home mom.

“So, I have not always been in childcare. As a mother of four, we had to I did have to go back into the workforce. It made it extremely difficult with the lack of childcare options, even to find an in-home private sitter,” said Jessica.

To continue to make an income, Jessica decided to start her own childcare business out of her house, which eventually turned into the idea of opening their own daycare.

Before Jessica and AJ even opened Tic Tac Toes Daycare, they had an entire waitlist of people that wanted to sign their children up. Once they opened, their waitlist almost tripled because the need was so great in the community.

“We saw a huge need, especially after opening up our first one, when our waitlist literally replenished within the first week of opening,” said AJ.

On top of helping parents with childcare, they also focus on social emotional learning that allows the child to express their emotions and feelings during the day to the teachers there. This creates a safe space for the children to learn and grow with their classmates and teachers.

At Tic Tac Toes they also provide testing for special needs. The Hines’ oldest daughter has Autism, which has inspired them to care for every child, regardless of the amount of care they need. Since the children are there each day with the Tic Tac Toes staff, they can pick up on things such as delayed speech, that can be early signs of these special needs. This in care testing allows parents to not have to take extra time out of their week to go get their child tested.

Since there was such an immense need for childcare in the area, Jessica and AJ have decided that they are opening Tic Tac Toes Two this summer.

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