Winning Day Care: Eichers' Kids Followed by Mary Linsmeier School

Leaving your first-born child at day care for the very first time is a heart-wrenching experience for parents.

But day after day, mothers, fathers, grandparents and guardians learn to trust the day care providers that they depend on to take care of their loved ones.

So we asked our readers to weigh in on to help those who may be looking for one.

Two local centers drew the strongest response: and . An in-home day care center, , also garnered positive support, as did , and .

But the winning day care — with the most votes in our poll and most comments — is Eichers' Kids. 

Eichers' Kids director , a mother of three with her fourth on the way due in August, wrote in the comments:

"I just wanted to thank both The Patch for bringing attention to such an important decision for parents in our community and also the parents of ALL of the child cares that have commented.

"It is wonderful to see families support the people that dedicate their days to making sure the children in their care feel nurtured, safe, and excited about learning.... All the top child cares in our area should be proud. If we are all in it for the right reasons, the true winners are the children!"

Patch interviewed Oberst today and soon will file an updated story about Eichers Kids and Mary Linsmeier.