Another unfortunate news story came about today as there are reports of a Grapevine preschool teacher accused of inappropriately touching a three year-old student. The teacher in question turned himself into authorities Wednesday.

We're all familiar with this story: something bad happens, but we think to ourselves "it's okay, we're insured against this bad thing," then the insurance company comes up with some excuse as to why they aren't going to help, then things become either a battle royale or we go softly in the night, uncompensated for the bad event.

Such was the case of Asia Jones' family. Asia was two years-old when she was forgotten in a daycare van one hot afternoon. She had died before she was found, still strapped in the seat.

Ahhhh, Memorial Day weekend - the unofficial start of summer. What are you and your kids up to this summer? Vacations? Summer camp? Day programs?

We've compiled a great list of resources for parents to review when evaluating summer options for children, kids, and teenagers:

The American Camp Association Expert Advice for Parents

Parent's Guide to Summer 2009 (DFW-area based)

Details are sparse at the moment, but FOX6 is reporting that a daycare van has rolled over on the streets of North Milwaukee, Wisconsin with as many as nine children (aged 5-11) inside.

We don't quite know which daycare was involved in the rollover, but it's highly likely that the van is a Ford Econoline - or something similar - known to prone to van rollover accidents.

On Friday, the Florida Department of Children & Families fined a daycare facility $5,500 for NOT reporting an alleged event of sexual abuse and child pornography.

On March 18, 2009, a girl (age unknown) reported to a staff member of the Ann Philip Daycare that someone had taken a picture of her "butt" while she was in the bathroom.

The staff member wasn't sure whether to believe the girl as the child had a penchant for "telling stories," and so didn't report it.

As the CDC closely watches new outbreaks and cases of swine flu, we have to ask two questions:

First, how are we keeping our kids and families safe from swine flu; and

Second, what are our daycares doing to keep our kids safe?

The CDC recommends several general tactics to combat swine flu:

• Avoid close contact with others

Reuters reports today about the correlation between the current economic slump and the rise in child abuse cases across the nation.

The relationship between financial stress and frustration is well understood, yet taking out frustration on children is not acceptable.

But what does this mean for daycare and child care programs?

Happy Tax Day to all, and to all a brief hypothetical:

If the IRS audited your long-time neighbor five times in the past twelve years, what would you assume? Bad luck? Probably not. Tipping off the authorities multiple times points to an assumption that your neighbor may be engaged in something a little weird - and maybe a little underhanded.

Happy post-holiday Monday morning!

As you're dropping your kids off at daycare this morning, what are you seeing? Happy faces? Kids gearing up for the day ahead? Or something different?

Just came across a super little podcast outlining all the different daycare options for pregnant women and families - check it out, let us know what you think!

(And if you like it and want more content to come in the form of podcasts and videocasts, no worries - we're working on it!)