Most childcare centres send your kid home with shoes full of sand, questionable artwork and sometimes a runny nose. Not for this Aussie TikTok mum though. Her daughter’s childcare centre sends her home with a freshly cooked family dinner, FOR FREE. And you can bet your peas and corn that the internet went nuts.
Mum of one little girl, Amber, shared her free childcare centre provided dinners on TikTok recently, which led to a flurry of comments and questions from shocked and amazed people all over the world. People wanting to know if this is what all Australian childcare centres were like and above all else, WHY.
And I admit, I wondered the same about the latter. OR was this some kind of five-star, gold plated serviced childcare centre Amber’s daughter Aria was attending?
Just your regular, run of the mill Aussie childcare centre. Kind of.
Alas, it turns out Amber has just struck it completely lucky in that her local childcare centre is a centre with heart. Answering many comments on her TikTok about if this is normal and questioning fees, she states she pays $60 a day for Aria to attend childcare, with the Government Childcare Subsidy covering the other $70. As for the family dinner, she’s sent home with every pickup, that’s completely optional and is provided for free.
Dinner for free – but you get what you get
You do have to opt-in for family dinners a week in advance and it’s a set menu so you can’t pick and choose but honestly, would you even care if someone else offered to cook your dinner? NO.
Through a series of short TikTok clips, Amber shows off some of the childcare provided dinners over the weeks – there are roast veggies on couscous one night, chilli con carne and rice the next plus tuna pasta bake, creamy chicken soup and bread, roast chicken and vegetables, even salad and falafel wraps. Amber says it’s four adult serves so they have enough for dinner and lunch to take to work the next day. AMAZING!
And before people jump to the conclusion that it’s the childcare educators cooking up a storm all day long, it isn’t. There are chefs catering for this childcare centre in a commercial kitchen. All 120 children attending the centre get their breakfast, lunch, snacks – and dinner if mum and dad want it – all taken care of.
Holy. Batman. Brilliant. SIGN ME UP.
But why?
“Why? Do you pay extra? I’d pay for that!” commented one person on a TikTok post.
The answer is quite simple. Amber comments that it’s “for us parents to eat dinner so we can spend the evening playing with our baby instead of cooking. No extra cost.” *cue angels singing*.
Childcare with heart
And that folks, is the holy grail of supportive childcare centres. One that goes above and beyond, showing they care about their families out of hours. The complete package and absolutely an incentive for families seeking care.
As for the exact name of the childcare centre, Amber keeps that close to her chest – we only know that it’s in Geelong, Victoria – and we expect for those who do know, its waiting list for admissions is going to be off the charts!
What do you think? Would you love for your childcare centre to adopt a family dinner program like this?
