Testimonials

My son Orlando and my daughter Summer, have never come home hungry, or winged about being hungry after their wonderful day at Little Darlings! The food is always fresh and homemade on site by professionals Mary and her staff, with only the best ingredients, with love used as the spices. When my husband and I were looking for a reputable Child Care Centre for our angels, one of the things that were important to us was the meals provided and it was important that the food is cooked on the premises. The food is very wholesome, fresh and filled with nutrients, which is important for growing bodies. I am also aware that the children are always offered food after they have finished their meal just in case they want a top up. Mary is very generous and makes sure that the kids are always satisfied. I highly recommend Little Darlings to any family seeking “A1” care and education for their children. I have never been worried about my kids starving at Little Darlings, as they always come home happy and tell me about the great day they had, and the good food they have eaten.

We have our third child remaining at Little Darlings. It seems like only a short time that we were searching for the “perfect” centre for our precious first born. After visiting a few centres, we didn’t feel prepared to leave our daughter. However, when we arrived at Little Darlings we were drawn to the authentic aromas of Mary’s kitchen. Immediately we felt the genuine “home away from home atmosphere”. Suddenly the thought of leaving our bub seemed possible. All of our children are very different, but all have loved their kindy and talked of Mary’s food. Our second daughter admitted she envied her little brother still at Little Darlings, as he still got to enjoy Mary’s lunch. The meals are proof that children will enjoy a variety of flavours and choices, especially eating in the “café style” kitchen with their peers. Little Darlings truly is a place of very high standards in the care the children receive. To the cosmopolitan kitchen, outstanding standards of hygiene and individual interest in each individual child.

“Warm”, “happy”, “clean”, “secure”, “organised” and “passionate”, are the words that spring to mind when I think of Little Darlings. Knowing my son is being taken care of by such experienced, fun and kind natured girls is a blessing. I never thought I’d be able to leave my son without crippling guilt, but I can be rest assured he’s getting the best quality care and learning, and experiencing new and exciting things while having the best time! It’s also all of the little things that make it extra special for me, like being able to read about what he’s got up to, what yummy food he ate (the ‘gourmet’ menu is amazing!), as well as seeing the candid happy snaps taken of him with his friends. And my favourite; the smile on my little boy's face at the end of the day telling me all I need to know!

I am writing to say how impressed I am with the menu and food that Little Darlings provides. The variety of meals and snacks on the menu is extensive, and the quality and portion size of the food is outstanding. It's reassuring to know that the children are eating fresh, homemade food daily and that they are enjoying plenty of fruit and vegetables in each serve.

As a mum of two children, I am constantly striving to provide them with the most nutritious and well-balanced foods that will also satisfy them. During our five years at Little Darlings, my children would be very excited to tell me what Mary had made for them to eat during their day. This would also be followed by requests to make Mary’s meals at home. Mary and Claire both have wonderful relationships with all of the children (my son even wanted to invite them to his 5th birthday), and deal with meal times like any parent would – firm but loving. I appreciate this aspect very much. My children are now nine and seven, and even last week, I had a request to make Mary’s ‘Lentil and Rice’. Mary and the Little Darlings team have provided my children with full bellies and happy hearts, during a time in their life that was so important in developing healthy and happy eating habits, and I will forever be grateful. You know your little darlings are being well fed when they request you to pick them up after afternoon tea! The smell of Mary’s cooking in the morning when I would drop my children off gave me a real sense of a homely environment, with wonderful family and friends to care for my children every day.

Little Darlings Child Care Centre was a fabulous centre in more ways than one. The food plan and menu that they offered each day was just fantastic. My little boy would come home and tell me he had eaten all his lunch and I knew that he did, as he rarely wanted to eat his dinner. I know and trust the quality food prepared and cooked on site, which was fresh and healthy each and every day. The extra special flavour of Mary’s cooking is one I wish she could teach me! I couldn’t recommend more highly the quality and cleanliness of the food prepared and given to our children at Little Darlings.

I am very lucky to have had my children start their preschool days at Little Darlings in 2005. I could not speak more highly or recommend enough to others about Little Darlings. With Mary's wonderful adventurous cooking, my son with severe allergies never had a problem or had to use any of his medication in his 4 years at Little Darlings.  My son was always treated as equal and Mary did every effort to make his meal look like everyone else’s but catered for his special dietary needs. The academic side of Little Darlings was also amazing, my kids seem to learn so much and were so confident and ready for school. As a parent I was always happy with the strict rules of signing the kids in and out and the great organisation to make each day a pleasant experience for the children.

All three of my children attended Little Darlings, all starting out in the babies’ room. It was always fantastic to know that when I dropped them off on my way to work in the morning, if they had slept in or wouldn’t eat breakfast before we left home, they would be fed a nutritious breakfast when they got to the centre. They were always welcomed by Mary’s enormous smile, were always happy to sit down and munch on their favourite cinnamon toast or a bowl of cereal. Lunchtime was always gourmet and had me constantly begging for Mary’s recipes - chicken and vegetable pasta bake with béchamel, beef with kidney beans, vegetables and brown rice, lentils with vegetables and brown rice casserole, stuff there was no way they would eat for me! They would wolf it down and ask for seconds. I cannot speak highly enough of Little Darlings – I wouldn’t trust my children to anyone else!

Mary is the best cooker in the world.  

Our son Tyson attended Little Darlings, Caringbah South for almost 3 years. The educational and cultural experience Tyson received at Little Darlings helped him progress with ease from preschool to St Catherine Laboure Gymea, primary school. At Little Darlings Tyson received great 1st stage writing and reading skills, which prompted his awareness of different cultures and the environment. Tyson’s work at the centre was beautifully displayed in his own personal folder, which we were able to view at leisure. The staff at Little Darlings are so friendly, caring and very enthusiastic when talking about the children’s day to day learning experiences. We also loved Mary (Marika’s mother) who we believe to be a “Master Chef”. The children’s menu is extensive, filled with nutritional and tasty choices. Marika runs her centre with great professionalism and organisation. Her dedication to this happy and vibrant centre is truly amazing.

Little Darlings was the only name that kept being mentioned to us when we were doing our research and asking around to local parents for advice on the best day-care/kindy in the Shire. Everyone was raving about Little Darlings! Our daughter has been attending Little Darlings for 2 years and we are thrilled with every aspect of the centre. It really is like an extension of the home. So much love and support for all the children plus a really great curriculum to prepare them for school. We also love the fact that the food is prepared on premise, using fresh ingredients every day by the lovely Mary! Taylor loves attending Little Darlings and we know she is cared for by the best and that is very important to us. The staff at Little Darlings are incredible and help make the centre what we believe is the best in the Shire!

Our 5 year old son has been attending Little Darlings Child Care Centre for the past 3 years and the quality of care he has received has been exceptional. All of the staff at the centre are very caring, friendly and knowledgeable and always willing to give advice and feedback to parents when required. The cleanliness of the centre is very impressive and thanks to the staff's dedication to this, I'm pleased that my son has rarely fallen sick while at Little Darlings. Our other son who is 2 and started at Little Darlings this year, has taken a long time to overcome his separation anxiety from me. However, the Little Darlings team have been extremely patient with him and always give him one-on-one attention when he requires it.  I thoroughly recommend Little Darlings to anyone - they are the best and I wouldn't send my children anywhere else!