Jenna’s House

Natalie (Owner and Primary Caregiver of Jenna’s House) seems to be a nice person, however she used poor judgment on several occasions during the two short weeks that my daughter was in her care and I feel compelled to share my experience with other parents who are considering Jenna’s House Daycare because her previous excellent Unilocal reviews are one of the biggest reasons I chose her to begin with.
I will start with her most significant mistake that resulted in my immediate decision that my daughter would not be returning to Jenna’s House Daycare. Natalie had asked permission for the children to go with her assistants down to the park for about an hour because Natalie had an appointment which required the children to be out of the home. I hesitated a moment because of the path to the park, but Natalie reassured me and told me that she would send me a text as soon as they returned from the park which should have been around 10am. Come 10:45 am I had not received a text from Natalie, so I sent her one asking if the kids got back from the park yet. While I was waiting for her reply, I decided I would take a break from work and just drive by the park down the street from my work place to check on my child. I arrived to the park and could see my daughter sitting there with the other kids and the assistants. As I was beginning to drive away from the park to go back to work, I received a text from Natalie. Her response to my question if the kids had returned from the park was «Yes, Sorry. They had a great time. The weather was perfect!» This was mere seconds after I saw my daughter at the park. Unfortunately, Natalie was willing to lie to me on the whereabouts of my child in order to say what I wanted to hear and not make me worry. I think any parent would agree that a lie like that from a daycare provider cannot be excused. I gave her two other chances to be truthful by casually asking her how long they were at the park and about when did they get back. She lied two more times. That night I looked at the coloring page that was sent home with my daughter and it was all about the 9^th commandment — «Do not tell lies».
That was my daughters last day in Natalie’s care. When I notified Natalie that my daughter would not be returning, she asked me if she had done something wrong. I explained to her and I was somewhat relieved that she did not deny the lie, was embarrassed, apologized and said that she could absolutely understand why I could no longer trust her with my child. I was comforted a little by the fact that she admitted to her wrongdoing, but ultimately, the lie should have never even happened. It was already bad enough that the whole reason the kids had to be out of the house was because she had an appointment with the Department of Social Services who had not yet inspected the new home which Natalie had recently moved her business to and had been operating for two weeks without approval. Natalie neglected to tell me (and probably other parents) that the state was delayed in inspecting her new home until the day before her rescheduled appointment.
(my review is continued in separate post by my husband due to character limit)

(review continued — from Sara C)
Other things that were concerning were:
— She gave saline nose drops to all the kids, including mine, without asking my permission. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had used the same exact bottle on each of the children and just wiped the tip which I am sure a medical professional would highly recommend against sharing nose drops no matter how well they cleaned the tip in between children. She also used vapo-​rub on my child without asking my permission.
— Before I selected Jenna’s House, one of the questions I asked Natalie was if there was anyone else that lived in the home or often came to the home during operation hours. She said sometimes her grown children stop by, so I assumed she was not married and possibly divorced or widowed. Then one day I was dropping my daughter off and a man answered the door, let me in and it was apparent that he was watching the kids for the moment. I asked him if Natalie was here and he said that she would be down shortly and introduced himself as her husband. I don’t know why she did not tell me about her husband. I’m sure he is a nice man and there was no harm to him being there with the kids, but It certainly made me wonder why she would have omitted that information especially since it wasn’t just a one-​time occasion — I saw him several other times in the presence of the kids during daycare hours.
— About 70% of the time when I arrived to drop off or pick up my kid, Natalie was not with the children, but was upstairs out of the daycare boundaries, making me wonder just how much of the time was the 18 year old assistant watching my kid rather than the woman I hired to do it. About 85% of the time Natalie was in what appeared to be her pajamas and looked as though she had not yet gotten ready for the day. I didn’t have a huge problem with either of these things, but it did come off as lazy and made me skeptical of how well prepared she was for the day and how involved she was with the kids.
— One time when I went to pick up my kid, she and the older kids and one assistant were in the backyard playing, Natalie was on one side of the home giving a tour, and I was at the door for several minutes with two unattended children — a baby who was left in a highchair and a ~14 month old wandering around by the open front door. No one was watching them.
— Finally, without my permission, Natalie posted photos of my child playing at daycare on her business Facebook page. I would have happily given her permission, but did not appreciate her failure to ask for permission.
I am not trying to punish Natalie with this review and I hope that she can learn from her mistakes and this information and can make some major improvements to her daycare business. My intention with this review is to inform Natalie’s prospective clients who are looking for an honest opinion, that this may not be the right daycare for their child.

We absolutely love Natalie and the care our daughter receives at Jenna’s House! She teaches Christian values and curriculum, fixes the children organic meals, and has the patience of a Saint. Our daughter enjoys the cooking projects, crafts, outdoor play, and feeding the pet rabbit. Natalie has been so helpful and knowledgeable. We are so thankful that we have found her!

Natalie is the best! Our two kids (ages 1 and 2) have been going there for seven months now, and absolutely love it. They come home with christian crafts, eat mostly organic, and JUICE! Crazy right? Our 2-​year daughter actually liked their juicer so much, that she convinced US to buy one. Now we’re all eating healthy! She loves she of those babies like her own, but doesn’t try to replace you as a parent. She’s supportive, loving, and only gives you advice when you ask for it. She’s kind and transparent with the adults, and loves to get down and dirty with crafts and play with the kids. We highly recommend her if you’re looking for the best in-​home daycare in the Rocklin area.