Dayscare

"Dayscare" is an episode from the 7th season of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Dil
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Kimi
 * Angelica
 * Didi
 * Chas
 * Kira
 * Herbert
 * Stu (mentioned)
 * Kid 2
 * Sunny
 * Eric
 * Robert
 * Tippy

Plot
The episode begins at Tommy's house, as Didi is in the kitchen, serving lemonade and cookies to Chas and Kira. Chas thanks Didi for her lemonade, then Didi tells him not to spill any of it on his tie, as Stu is running out of spare ties. Kira then tells Didi that she and Chas have been meaning to tell her that they feel guilty about leaving her with Chuckie and Kimi so frequently. Didi tells them that she doesn't mind looking after them, and in fact, enjoys it. Chas then tells Didi that, at least for tomorrow, they're going to put Chuckie and Kimi in a licensed Dr. Lipschitz daycare center.

In the living room, Chuckie overhears, but misinterprets the word, "Daycare" as "Dayscare", thinking it's the scariest place in the world, as it has "scare" in its name. Angelica overhears and tells Chuckie that daycare is scary, with extra long baths, no chocolate milk, and broken TV sets. She then tells them that daycare is where parents put the worst, scariest kids, that even babysitters don't want to look after. Tommy tries to calm Chuckie down by telling him that he went to daycare once. Chuckie asks Tommy if the other kids were terrifying, and Tommy tells him he isn't sure, as he broke out before anything bad happened. Unfortunately, this doesn't make Chuckie feel any better. Kimi tells Chuckie not to worry, as she's going to daycare with him. Chuckie then asks Kimi why daycare isn't called "Dayhappy" if it isn't scary, and Phil and Lil tell Kimi that Chuckie has a point. Chas and Kira walk into the living room, and Chas asks them if they're ready to go home. Kimi excitedly says, "Uh-huh" to them as she runs up to Chas, who carries her and Chuckie away. Tommy, Phil, and Lil watch as Chas carries Chuckie and Kimi away, and Tommy waves goodbye to them. They both wave back, but while Kimi does it excitedly, Chuckie does it nervously.

The next morning, Chas parks his car outside the Happytown Daycare Center, which has a cutout of a laughing, waving clown in between cutouts of children. As they get out of the car, Chuckie looks up, and given his fear of clowns, doesn't like the idea of daycare already. When he, Chas, and Kimi get inside, they see kids playing and laughing excitedly. Chuckie sees the kids as scary as Angelica described them, worrying that she was right about them.

The Receptionist asks Chas if she can help him, and Chas tells her that his son, Chuckie, and his daughter, Kimi will be staying with her today. He then tells her that Chuckie is a little sensitive. The Receptionist sees Chuckie hiding behind Wawa, and tells him there's nothing to be afraid of, as today they're celebrating "I Am Special" day. Chas then tells Chuckie that he and Kimi are going to have a swell time today. Just then, Tippy, one of the employees, walks in, acting like a train. She tells Chuckie and Kimi to follow her. Kimi excitedly does, but Chuckie hides behind Wawa. Kimi then runs back to Chuckie and drags him along. As they and Tippy leave, Chas hands the receptionist a long list of Chuckie's allergies.

Tippy takes Chuckie and Kimi over to the playroom, where the other children are playing with a parachute. Before Tippy can tell Chuckie and Kimi what they can do if they like, Kimi runs over to the parachute. Tippy then asks Chuckie if he'd rather play with his friends or just hang out with her. Chuckie is scared of Tippy, and runs over to the parachute. Tippy then tells Chuckie to have a special day. After the other kids lower the parachute, one of them tells Chuckie and Kimi to go under next. Chuckie tells the kid that he might like that, but he and Kimi aren't going anywhere near the parachute. He then asks Kimi if he agrees, but before she can answer, the kids raise the parachute. Kimi runs under and makes it out the other side before the other kids can lower the parachute. She then tells Chuckie to try it himself, and as the other kids raise the parachute Chuckie decides to go to the other side as quickly as possible. One of the kids then tells the other kids go under the parachute. The other kids run through the parachute, leaving Chuckie standing frozen with fear and causing the parachute to fall on top of him. Kimi runs away with the other kids, then tells Chuckie to hurry up. Chuckie tells Kimi he's coming as he tries to find his way out from under the parachute. Chuckie looks around and sees the playroom is now empty, then runs away to find Kimi.

Tippy then tells the other kids to act like lions, and roars. The other kids roar as Chuckie looks for Kimi, and one of them even roars at him. Tippy then sees Chuckie and tells the other kids to look at him. They all do so, and one of the kids roars at Chuckie, scaring him away.

Kimi walks up to the Receptionist, who is with two kids named Eric and Sandy, the latter of whom is buried in the sandbox with her head sticking out. The receptionist tells Kimi that she and Eric are making a "Sandy castle" and asks if she'd like to help them. Kimi buries Sandy's foot in sand, and the Receptionist praises her for it. Kimi then sees a path of tunnels, and runs towards them. The Receptionist waves goodbye to her, then realizes that she has to get going, as it is almost "Special Time". She leaves just as Chuckie walks in. Chuckie calls for Kimi, asking where she is, and Sandy tells him that Kimi went into the tunnels. She then introduces herself to Chuckie and asks what his name is, but Chuckie, seeing only her head sticking out of the sand, is afraid of her, and runs away, screaming. Eric then tells Sandy that Chuckie's scream is a weird name.

Kimi has a lot of fun playing in the tunnels, but a frightened Chuckie tells her to wait for him. Chuckie crawls into the tunnels, but when he meets up with Kimi, she scares him. Kimi then asks Chuckie what's wrong. Chuckie tells her that the entire daycare center is filled with scary kids, who made the sky fall on him, turned into animals, and one had a talking severed head. He tells her that he and Wawa don't want to be at daycare anymore. Kimi assures Chuckie that the other kids are nice and daycare is fun, so she drags him along. Kimi takes Chuckie to the slide, but Chuckie tries to tell her that what she's doing isn't such a good idea. Kimi then pushes Chuckie down the slide and slides after him. They land in the ball pit at the end of the slide. Tippy then finds them and tells them that playtime's over. She scares Chuckie, who runs away, and not realizing how scared he is, tells Kimi that Chuckie sure can run.

Chuckie runs into the music room, and seeing how empty it is, decides to stay there for a while. He walks up to the giant electronic piano keys and steps on one, which frightens him with its note. Chuckie runs across the other keys, and they frighten him with their notes. He then backs into a pair of gongs, ringing them, then runs away, dragging Wawa, and causing him to hit chimes. Finally, he runs into an organ, which scares him with its notes. Chuckie then runs out of the music room and jumps back into the ball pit. He looks around, and is relieved not to find any other children. Just then, two children pop out, and they scare Chuckie, as well as themselves, when they see each other. When they pop out again, the first kid introduces himself as Herbert, and the second introduces himself as Robert. Chuckie then introduces himself to them, and Herbert tells Chuckie that his bad day started when his mom put his fuzzy socks on his feet, as they always make his toes feel like they don't have enough room, and he worries that they'll shrink and disappear, and he'll have to learn to walk on his hands. Robert then tells Chuckie that his bad day started when he saw a kid with just her head in the sandbox. Chuckie tells him and Herbert that that same kid scared him as well. Herbert agrees, then tells Chuckie and Robert about a scary kid with a teddy bear, running around and screaming. Chuckie then nervously laughs and tells him and Robert that he was that kid, much to Herbert's relief. Robert then tells Chuckie that he and Herbert thought they were doomed. Chuckie tells them he thought so, too, and they're the only two kids making any sense, as every other kid is terrifying. Robert then tells Chuckie that he'd better stick with him and Herbert from now on, otherwise, he'll be put in the "Scream Room" with the rest of the kids. Chuckie is shocked when he hears this.

Kimi finds Chuckie in the ball pit, and tells him she's been looking for him. She jumps into the ball pit and Herbert and Robert duck as she tries to tell Chuckie that they're supposed to be in the ice cream room. Chuckie then tells Kimi that she can't take him to any "Scream Room", as he's done enough screaming for one day. Herbert and Robert pop out and tell Chuckie to stand up to Kimi, then duck back down. Kimi tells Chuckie that he'll really like the ice cream room, and that she promises him that it isn't scary. She then tells him that, as his sister, he can trust her. Herbert pops out and tells Chuckie not to go with Kimi, and Robert pops his hand out and uses it to point down, telling Chuckie to duck down in the ball pit with them. Chuckie decides to go with Kimi, who tells him he isn't going to be sorry. Herbert and Robert pop out again, the former telling Chuckie that he will be sorry, and the latter asking if they can have Wawa. Kimi stares angrily at them, and they duck back into the ball pit.

Kimi leads Chuckie to the ice cream room and opens the door. Inside, he finds all the kids enjoying ice cream. Eric and Sandy greet him, and Chuckie tells Kimi that the other children aren't scary anymore. Kimi tells Chuckie that she told him she was right. Tippy then walks up to Chuckie and Kimi and hands them their ice cream. She then tells them that, no matter what flavor they are, they're special. Chuckie finds the ice cream room the best part of daycare and apologizes to Kimi for doubting her. The Receptionist then carries in Herbert and Robert, both of whom are screaming in fear. Kimi laughs and says, "Now it's the scream room!", then the receptionist hands them their ice cream. Chuckie then greets them, and Herbert apologizes to Chuckie for telling him about the "Scream Room". He then tells him that he must have misheard, as he has an ear infection. Chuckie then tells Herbert that it's okay, as he just needs a brave little sister to help him out, like how he has Kimi. Kimi finds what Chuckie said about her sweet, then splats her ice cream on Chuckie's face. She then asks Chuckie if he still thinks so, and Chuckie laughs and tells her he does, then splats his ice cream on her face. The two laugh together as the episode ends.

Trivia

 * This isn't the first time Chuckie went to daycare, as we found out in the "Chanukah" episode.
 * The Daycare is celebrating "I Am Special" Day when Chuckie and Kimi arrive.
 * Chas has a list of Chuckie's allergies, listed by bacterial phylum.
 * This daycare is a lot friendlier than the one Tommy went to in "The Big House"
 * The last time this episode aired on Nicktoons is August 22, 2021.

Episode connections

 * Tommy makes a references to the episode, "The Big House", where he almost broke out of another daycare.

Quotes
Tippy (the counselor at the daycare center): Have a special day!

Chuckie: I had enough screaming for today, thank you very much.

Gallery
The Gallery for this episode can be found here