Trendiak Family - 50 Stories for 50 Years (Story # 4)
Five open paint pots. No lids. Just sitting there available on day one to any child who wanted them. Eliza had never seen anything like it.
"I was like, what is this place? That is a disaster waiting to happen. But they're just going to roll with it."
That's the philosophy at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House's Childcare at Eric Hamber program. Educators who treat children as whole people, encouraging their individual strengths and curiosities. You want to explore, then get down in the dirt, roll in it. What does rain feel like on your toes? Take off your shoes.
“In orientation they told us to bring lots of changes of clothes. We are going to encourage kids to use their whole body and experience things.” Eliza remembers.
One morning, over coffee, an email arrived telling Eliza and Rob Trendiak their kids had a spot in the new daycare program at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House. After three years of scrambling, $2,500-a-month private care, a part-time drop-in that closed, a ten-month stretch of tag-team parenting where Eliza worked until 2:00 AM so Rob could work mornings, neither of them could quite believe it.
“We literally felt like we won the lottery,” Eliza says.
Every day they marvel at what comes home from daycare: the children learning to physically hold a thought in their hands until there's space to share it; songs from Queen and AC/DC, animal facts, so many animal facts, and stories of friendship and adventure.
"Our kids look forward to going every day, and then they put up a fight when they have to leave at the end of the day, and on the weekends, they miss their friends," Rob says.
The educators show up for parents just as much as they do for the kids.
“I think a lot of times you have this insecurity of are we doing it right? Are we doing an okay job? They've just always made us feel so welcome. I just feel like we belong here," Eliza says. "There've been times where I've shown up and said oh my gosh, we just had this behavioral thing happening over and over again. And they can just, from an outside perspective, respond with, well, at this age, you're probably going through this shift. So it almost feels like a collaborative thing."
That connection extends beyond the classroom.
"They foster this kind of community environment. We've genuinely become friends with some of the other parents, even ones whose kids have moved on. There's also a WhatsApp group," Eliza adds.
For the Trendiaks, finding MPNH wasn't just about childcare, it was what made staying in Vancouver feel possible. "
This is the window where people are like, we're either going to stick it out in the city, or it's too hard," explains Rob. "The level of care is so beyond, but it's like the least amount we've ever paid for."
“There's nothing better than knowing your kids are in amazing hands, and they're growing and learning, and they're safe." - Rob Trendiak
Story written by Signy Marcyniuk through an interview with the family during her placement at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.
50 Stories for 50 Years at MPNH is a collection of meaningful stories that celebrate the lasting impact our Neighbourhood House has had over the years. These stories come from long-time participants, families, youth, volunteers, community members, and regular visitors whose lives have been touched, supported, or transformed through our programs, services, and connections at the House.
