Hello. My name is Elyse Mims. I am a widowed mother (and grandma), who moved to NW Arkansas in May 2006. I have been caring for children professionally since the year 2000 and have been a parent for 30 years; Many of those years were spent homeschooling my children while I was working; the Picture of 3 of my children was taken on Christmas 2011.

         

 Before starting my career in childcare I worked in the legal field for almost 14 years in the Washington DC and Baltimore areas... positions included being a court runner, a Private Process  Server (I served child support papers) and was an Advocate for abused & neglected children in the Baltimore courts for 5 years. In the past 4 years I have worked with families in women's shelters while they put their lives back together.

I RUN A FAMILY HOME AND ACT AS SUCH...

I am NOT a licensed childcare or a Day school for babies; I do keep abreast of the requirements for registered care which is voluntary for homes with 5 or less children - some of the Rules changed for 2012 and became stricter.

I moved into this hand built cottage in April of last year and there are still things that need updating - I must run licensed exempt instead of registered for a short time while the "list" is taken care of over the next several months, however that does not mean standards or policies will change... I still run as a though I am registered because once a fence is up, I can re-certify. Liability insurance is in place as I run state legal regardless of registration.

I have had state & federal background checks, been fingerprinted, had physicals along with TB tests done, and am current in both Arkansas and Missouri; I am also registered with the MO Family Care Safety Registry because I work on call there occasionally. I do give parents verbal up-dates and let them know how their child's day went at pick-up time. 

The criminal background checks are just the beginning of registration process; there is also 15 hrs of classes that I must take each year and much more that is done "behind the scenes" that many parents don't know about.  Over the last 12 years I have been certified (and re-certified in some cases) in the following: Infant Safety, Sanitation for Disease Prevention, Abuse and Neglect, Discipline in Child Care, Adult & Infant CPR/FIRST AID/AED, Child Growth and Development, Music & Movement and have 9 years of Postpartum doula training/experience.

I have three wonderful children, a stepson (Tony, 25, lives in TN) and six grandchildren with # 7 on the way. My youngest child, Shannon, is 19 1/2; she lives in Salt Lake City and attends Westminster College while she works towards a Biology Major (Pre-med). 

My older two, Heather, age 27  & Scott, 30, along with 3 of my grandbabies and most of my siblings still live in the MD & VA suburbs of Washington DC. My promise to you, is to nurture your child as if he or she was my very own.  Please don't expect my home or your child to be perfectly clean at pickup time.  We do lots of activities and will do our best to maintain cleanliness and order, but fun and the well being of the children will always take precedence over cleaning (I can tidy up afterwards).

"Who is that Cutie?"

To provide a quality childcare experience that helps your child develop physically, socially, and emotionally.