Good daycares fill up quickly, and there may be waiting lists to get into them. Start looking at daycares a couple months before you need one, and even sooner if you live in a large city, where wait lists are often longer. Ask neighbors, friends, and parent groups in the area for recommendations of daycares they've attended. Find out what they liked and disliked about the facility they used and why they left if they’re no longer attending it. Focus on people who have the same parenting style as you. What worked for someone else might not work for you if you don't both agree on discipline or nutrition. Look online to see what kinds of reviews have been written about a facility. Check Google reviews, Yelp, or other community sites. Get a sense for the overall performance of a center, rather than looking at one or two reviews that deviate from the rest. If there are several similar complaints about a facility, it's probably best to steer clear. Narrow your search down to places that are right around your house or office or are located along your commute. It won’t be convenient if you have to go too far out of your way to pick up or drop off your child. In-home daycares are childcare facilities that are located within a provider’s home. While some of them are licensed, they don’t have to be, so these places are often cheaper to attend. They also have fewer children, so your child may get more one-on-one attention. If the provider of an in-home daycare is sick, you may need to stay home too if they don’t have an available backup. Traditional, large-group daycare centers need to be licensed, so they’re held to higher standards than in-home daycares. The employees are usually background checked and often have relevant education or experience in child care.  They tend to be more expensive than in-home centers, but for toddlers the prices are usually less expensive than a nanny. There may be less flexibility in scheduling for these centers since they have stricter policies regarding pick up and drop off. If you’re considering group daycare, visit your state or city’s website to search for daycares that are current on their license. Also check to see if the daycare you’re interested in has any outstanding health or safety violations.  Visit the website for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). They have a list of accredited programs that have met a rigorous set of standards beyond licensure. For in-home daycares, visit the website for the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) to see which ones meet higher standards.

Summary: Start early. Ask for recommendations. Read online reviews. Search for places near your home or office. Choose an in-home daycare if you’re on a budget. Choose a group daycare for stricter standards. Research the daycare’s license or certification.


You can make some using a coffee maker or one part instant coffee and one part hot water. You can also use a shot of espresso. This will break up any clumps that might be in the sugar, resulting in a smoother texture when you finish. Pour the coffee into the sugar while mixing the sugar briskly with a fork or a small whisk. You will get a thick, syrup-like consistency. Work quickly, as this glaze will harden up.
Summary: Prepare the strong-brewed coffee and set it aside. Pour the powdered sugar through a sieve into a bowl. Mix in the strongly-brewed coffee. Pour the glaze over your cake, cupcake, or pastry.