When both parents work taking care of small children after school hours are over often needs major reshuffling of schedules.
And especially for parents whose children are in junior school, time management seems like a constant struggle. Sometimes, parents are even compelled to leave urgent work behind and rush to pick up their child from school at 3 pm. Day boarding services and babysitters in Kathmandu are rare and expensive.
This is where Small Miracles can come to your rescue. Located at Jawalakhel, this childcare service will pick up your child after school, help them with their homework, and drop them home in the evening where you can receive them with open arms and a stress free mind.
The story behind the idea
Inu Poudel, founder of Small Miracles, often saw her daughter struggling to balance professional and personal life. “Women are empowered these days, but our culture still enchains them in some way or the other,” says Poudel. “Women face the double burden of home and work,” she adds.
According to Poudel, our society still thinks of children being entirely a mother’s responsibility. Due to which, mothers often compromise on their career or take a long leave from office in order to take care of their children. “Women, at times, are also compelled to work shorter hours or go for a low paying job in order to take care of their children,” says Poudel.
Struggle to survive
Poudels talks about how she saw her daughter trying to do her best at work and still be able to give enough time to her daughter (Poudel’s granddaughter). This made her realize that this was a problem almost all working mothers faced. “That was how I got the idea for Small Miracles,” says Poudel. “We wanted to share the responsibility of working parents,” she adds.
A new concept
“This is an entirely new concept in Kathmandu,” says Poudel. “Day boarding and Montessori often get monotonous.
Staying at one place for the entire day is obviously frustrating for little children,” she says. Small Miracles provides joyous and friendly environment for children from grade one to five. They have the facility to pick your child up after school and drop them back home around six in the evening.
After school, Small Miracles provides healthy snacks for children and helps them with their homework as well. “Parents often come back home after a hectic day at work and then they have to help children with their homework,” says Poudel. “We just want to share their workload,” she adds.
Small miracles especially intends to cater to urban nuclear families where both the parents are working and often find themselves unable to give their best at work or having to run from one place to another because they have kids who need to be picked up and taken care of before their work hours are done.
“And you can rest assured that we will provide your children an environment for all round development,” says Poudel adding that because she has small grandchildren she knows how to handle kids that age. Her daughter, who often helps her at Small Miracles, too is good with children.
“Many parents also hire babysitters but that’s not only expensive, it’s not cost effective either. Many babysitters can’t help your child with homework and you will have to do that when you get home,” says Poudel. With Small Miracles looking after your child after school, you can spend some quality time with them when you return home because they will be done with their homework by that time.
And all this – taking care of you children from 2 to 6 pm – comes at a nominal cost of Rs 6000, which is much cheaper than many other day boarding services in Kathmandu. Small Miracles will also take care of your children during public holidays and Saturdays. “And if you find yourself stuck at work even after six in the evening, we will also take care of your children till you are ready to go home,” says Poudel.
All round development
After they complete their homework, Small Miracles will have your children involved in various co-curricular activities. “Poetry recitation, storytelling, painting, singing and dancing are an important aspect of our organization and we believe in helping children build their confidence through such activities,” says Poudel adding that at home one is often forced to keep their children occupied with iPads, television or mobile phones.
Poudel believes that this can hamper a child’s ability to think creatively and thus with activities that require kids to communicate and get their brain cells working, Small Miracles will also help your children harness their intellectual and practical skills. There is also a small garden where the kids can play when they don’t want to stay indoors anymore.
Besides this, children are also taught good manners and the value of discipline. “We want to teach our kids to share, be polite, and respect others. We want them to grow up well,” says Poudel.
The way forward
Poudel mentions that since this is a new concept, many people are still skeptical about sending their children to the center but they have been getting positive responses from many parents.
“Safety is one of our primary concerns which is why we also have installed CCTV cameras for constant monitoring,” says Poudel adding that parents can rest assured that their children are in safe and reliable hands while letting Small Miracles take care of them.
Currently based in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, Small Miracles also plans to open branches in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur in the future and come to the rescue of many more working parents.
