Darling Child Care+ began one summer morning in 2021

Two people, with no connection to one another, reached out to our founder, Robin. They both said something along the lines of, “I need you or someone like you to help me with my child!”  Since then we’ve made dozens of long-term child care matches! We’ve also engaged in early childhood education consulting contracts, expanded our team, and expanded our services!  We initially focused on long-term part-time and full-time child care matches. But after polling our family and caregiver communities, we learned that there was a need for short-term and on-call support. We’re happy to announce that we now offer the following services: Long-Term, Part-Time placements [10-20 hours/week, 7+ months] Long-Term, Full-Time placements [21+ hours/week, 7+ months] Short-Term placements [1 day-6months] On-Call placements [two darling+ caregivers you can book on an as-needed basis]

For our families, all of these services are unlocked with a one-time Engagement Fee. For our caregivers there is no charge. We do require everyone to sign our Engagement Letter which ensures we all adhere to high standards. We are proud to announce our collaboration with a Canadian payroll service called HeartPayroll! This allows us to offer our clients a discounted rate on their services while darling+ takes care of all the back-and-forth required. Keep your life as stress-free as possible… we’ll handle the child care and all that goes along with it!

Make sure to check out our new FAQ page!

Robin [she/her] here!

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the founder of darling+.

I’ve been a child caregiver in various capacities, from babysitter to live-in full-time, since the age of 11. I completed the Early Childhood Education program at George Brown College in 2017. I maintain my Registered standing with the College of Early Childhood Educators. Following graduation, I was a Lead Preschool Teacher and Summer Day Camp Director at a Waldorf school, and I taught music lessons to little ones!

Now, I get to work with children, their families, and caregivers as a consultant with darling+! While my partner Graham and I await the arrival of our first child! That’s right… darling+ is growing in more ways than one! 

Having been so deeply entrenched in the Toronto child care scene for so many years as a caregiver, educator, and advocate, I am so excited to experience things from the perspective of a parent. The context of my child care and business experience [I also co-founded a femtech startup!] and now as a soon-to-be mom, allow me to be uniquely qualified in supporting families and caregivers as they navigate the child care world, alongside our wonderful team.

While I step back and settle into new family life, I am thrilled to introduce you to Nita and Patrícia. 

Don’t worry – I’ll be back! 

Love, 
Robin [+ Graham, + baby darling]

Hello, darling+ friends!

My name is Nita [she/her] and I have been working mostly behind the scenes with darling+ since March. I was fortunate to have met Robin through a mutual friend many years ago. I’m so grateful to now call her a friend. I have always admired her creativity, positivity, and passion for improving people’s lives through new ideas. It was truly an honour that Robin asked me to join her as the first official darling+ hire.

As a caregiver myself for well over a decade in the city, I can attest to the gaps in the Toronto child care landscape that darling+ is now helping to fill. Like Robin, I also began my career in care as a babysitter at the age of 11. I have a range of experience from being a full-time nanny to infants and children, to years as a live-in caregiver for a senior battling dementia.

I have been extremely fortunate in the families and children who I have had the privilege of working with over the years. My families have all made a bigger impact on me than they could possibly know. Nothing brings me greater joy than keeping in touch with them and seeing what amazing little humans the kids are growing into. If I can facilitate making similar meaningful life-long connections for others, I would be sincerely overjoyed!

In my spare time, you can find me reading, making food [snacking], and spending time with my favourite people. Raised in the West End neighbourhood of High Park/Swansea, I now live in the Forest Hill area with my better half and our dog, Franklin.

Hello, darling+ community!

I’m Patrícia [she/her]. I’ve been working with children and families for over 10 years in a variety of roles, including caregiver and ESL teacher. I’m a proud early childhood educator and I was very fortunate to meet Robin at GBC when I first moved from Brazil to Toronto.

I was very lucky to be one of darling+’s first matches! After working as a registered ECE in centre-based care for 4 and a half years, focusing on one family and one child was such an amazing experience. Being a part of someone’s childhood is an honour and I feel very lucky to be able to do this work. The families and children I get to work with hold a special place in my heart.

I’m so excited for Robin to become a mom! It’s a pleasure to be able to support darling+ as a consultant and facilitator while she focuses on this new chapter. Besides my part-time role at darling+, I work in child care advocacy and policy research, fighting for affordable and accessible high-quality child care, and decent work conditions for childcare workers.

In my free time, I enjoy puzzles, nature walks with loved ones, birdwatching, and spending time with my kitties, Louie and Ray-Ray.

We can’t wait to get to know you! Send us an email at hello@darlingchildcare.com!