Arlington Playspace offers daycare

Arlington Playspace opened in downtown Arlington in March to offer a flexible daycare option for local work-from-home parents.

It is located at the Stilly Valley Collective at 103 E. 3rd St. in Arlington.

Owner Mary Andersen is a mother and also runs her own bookkeeping business, which inspired her to create a childcare option that fit more into an ever-changing schedule.

“It kind of all started because I was trying to find a solution out of traditional daycare,” she said.

“Most days I don’t need all-day, and with most daycares it’s all-or-nothing,” she said.

That kind of model makes sense for a traditional daycare business, she said, but an alternative childcare option would be useful for her and other parents.

“It’s not designed to be an all-day or everyday type of solution,” said Andersen.

The business is located in the Stilly Valley Chamber of Commerce’s co-working space, the Stilly Valley Collective.

“Right now I’m only allowing people to use the service if they are remaining in the building, just until I get clarification if I can do something like a true drop-in,” said Andersen.

“I’d like to be able to do that, but first I want to get this to make sense for the business,” she said.

Parents that work-at-home or who are starting their own business can drop off a child and then do work at the Stilly Valley Collective.

“Typically we would have parents in here that are working toward starting a business, or they're working on a project for their business, or maybe they’re a student,” said Andersen.

Parents also have the opportunity to drop off their child if they want to attend the classes offered at the building or partake in services from businesses, such as the massage therapists in the building.

“Moms who want to have a massage but don’t have someone at home to look after their kids, we can look after those kids,” said Andersen.

Clients should book 24 hours ahead of time. “That’s mostly so I can staff it correctly,” said Andersen.

Those who plan to frequently use the childcare service can also buy monthly packages that offer a certain number of drop-offs per month.

Andersen said that the daycare is generally open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but they also stay open until 6:30 p.m. once a week as well.

More information about the local childcare business is available at arlingtonplayspace.com or by calling 425-754-7900.

Online booking is also available at their website.