Short summary. There are no cameras, overpriced for the quality of service, stale food provided, modifications made to her contract without prior documentation, inconspicuous abuse, unprofessional behavior, and Ms. Lee’s daughter, Unikia Dene Lee, should not be on the premises, look her up before sending your child to this home daycare. I took my child out after being there for only 3 months.
 

Bad quality food. I was telling my child’s father that I needed to go buy more tissue and snacks. His response, “why we paying so much and taking snacks?” I said because he’s not eating her snacks. I realized why he wasn’t eating the snacks she was providing. One day she put some of her puff chips in a bag to go. My son wasn’t eating them so I took them to see how they taste. They were STALE!
 

Undocumented contract changes. We paid out of pocket, $275, on time every week. She told me herself that she can count on our payment to be on time. One day after my child’s doctor’s appointment, I sent her money from a new bank account, so the Zelle payment was on hold for a moment. I texted her, will I have to wait until the money goes through before bring my son? She thumbs up the text message. Not long after her liking the text, the payment went through. Once I got to her house, I asked her for clarity on this “no drop off until payment goes through” undocumented change. She says, while giving off weird body language, that’s what I’m going to add to my contract/policy. Her contract says verbatim “I may amend the contract/policies by giving the parent/guardians a copy of the new or changed policies at least 30 days before any changes go into effect.” I wish she gave me 30 days and not just 30 minutes.
 

Inconspicuous abuse. One day she said my child woke up out of his sleep crying. When I picked him up, he was still crying and looked at her like she did something to him. My child is not a cry baby, anyone who has watched him has told me that. As a Mother, you know your child and when something is wrong. When we got home, I had to change him and saw she had tightened his diaper so tight it left marks. All those parents telling me she’s loving and would never hurt your child were lying sheep. She tried to hurt him in a way that she thought wasn’t going to be noticed. She never did that before. His Coterie diapers fit him correctly and on the site it says “There shouldn’t be any gaps in the legs or waist, and the diaper tabs shouldn’t overlap.” I thought daycare providers knew that the diaper tabs shouldn’t overlap.
 

Unprofessional behavior. One morning I saw her, school aged, granddaughter push my son’s hand when he wanted to play with the blocks. I said in my normal tone “So he can’t play with the blocks?” Lee angrily says to me, you don’t correct the children, you talk to me. I understood her saying that… it’s the way she aggressively yelled at me that made it her final time of being disrespectful and unprofessional towards me and my child. Two times Ms. Lee should have corrected a mother like she did me. A little girl’s mother said out loud, about Ms. Lee’s grandson, “He needs a whoppin’.” The same mother also told the youngest boy at the daycare to not touch on her daughter. The little boy was trying to play with her daughter and they were in the same age group. It was unnecessary for that mother to say both of those things. Ms. Lee was present both times, for some reason she was deaf and patient with that Mother.

The next week she texts exactly “Good morning Parents, For the protection of all the children at TUDC effective immediately: I am asking that all drop-offs and pick-ups be handled from the daycare porch. Last week, I've experienced an incident where a parent felt it was okay to attempt to discipline another's child in my presence. This type of negative and inappropriate behavior from any parent towards any child Will Not Be Tolerated at my daycare. Thank you for your cooperation. Ms. Lee” She never texted my child’s father until she wanted to tell all the parents, except me, the above message.
 

Daughter shouldn’t be on premises. I wish I knew this before I put my child in her daycare. This may be the case now I’m not sure but Unikia Dene Lee should not be on the premises during operating hours. Do your research on what she did in 2019. I saw and heard her daughter plenty of times walking around upstairs in the morning during operating hours.
 

0/10 do not recommend. I tell other parents if they want a drop in daycare go to Little Makers when a specific provider is in there. If they want full time for a child younger than 5 go to a few daycares in Cary or wait until a spot opens up at a daycare with a waiting list. A family member of mine, who works in the childcare industry, said if a daycare has a waiting list they are most likely a good daycare. I should’ve listened because Ms. Lee had one spot open for so long. Many daycares were booked and had waiting lists. I had moved to another state for a while, came back to Raleigh and she still had that spot open. Many lessons learned.