Ready, Set, Grow Child Care Center Is A Family Affair

For some adult daughters the idea of spending every working day with their mother might seem less than ideal.

Add to that a collaborative partnership in a child care setting that requires long hours and a lot of patience and there’s potential to tax even a healthy relationship.

That’s not the case, however for Judy Monaco and her daughter Beth Orr, co-owners and directors of Ready, Set, Grow Child Care Centerin Darien who have been working together for almost three years.

Monaco began her career as owner and director for four years of the Little Gingerbread House Nursery School in Oak Lawn in 1980.

Monaco said she has always adored children, and over the years she and her husband welcomed six of their own.

Undaunted by the child-rearing demands of a large family, she began a licensed home day-care program in 1993 which existed until the 2008 move to the current location. All five of her clients followed her to Ready, Set, Grow.

“I’m still in touch with the original families from my home day care,” said Monaco, a grandmother of three, noting that one of “her kids” recently graduated from high school. She expressed her enjoyment in watching the children grow over time.

As the child care center’s third anniversary approaches in July, Monaco reflected on her relationship with her daughter Beth, a mother of three who oversees most of the pre-school and pre-K curriculum while Monaco concentrates on the business and operational aspects of the center.

“It’s been good working with Beth. I love seeing her every day,” Monaco said, adding with a laugh, “We even live on the same block.”

Orr, who has a B.A. in early childhood education, agreed with Monaco’s sentiment saying, “My mom and I have a close relationship. And even though we’re co-directors I tell her ‘You’re my mom--you trump me!’”

As a child, Orr found the addition of home day care children to an already large family brood idyllic.

“I think I wanted to work with children since I was very small,” Orr said.

The mother-daughter duo has created an atmosphere of success with an enrollment of more than 70 full and part-time children and a staff of 14 employees including Monaco’s son, Jason, who works with the children and helps keep the business technologically savvy.

“We’re at capacity now,” Monaco said. “We have a waiting list.”

She takes pride in the center’s “family-feeling” and the staff’s efforts to make personal connections with the childrens’ families.

Monaco’s other children also pitch in from time to time helping with maintenance issues or working during college breaks. She joked that she even enlists her husband’s help on the weekends by giving him projects that require his construction background expertise.

Last August they expanded to occupy the vacant suite next door. The move created more office space and a gym large enough for parachute games that Orr labels extremely valuable during inclement weather.

Both Monaco and Orr praise the staff for their capabilities and dedication to their work, noting that turnover is very low- not the norm for the child care industry. 

“How lucky we are," Orr said, ''to be working together with children, and living our dream.”