Enrolling a young child in kindergarten can be a stressful experience for children, parents, and educators alike. Each party faces unique challenges during this period and undergoes an adjustment process – children adapt to institutional life and educators, parents adjust to separation from their child and building trust in educators, and educators adjust to new children, parents and their specific needs. Until they become acquainted, accept each other, and establish a relationship, tension, distrust, and parental anxiety prevail, which can negatively impact a child's adaptation. The aim of this study was to examine the expectations, opinions, and experiences of parents of young children regarding kindergarten and educators, as there is a significant lack of research and expert articles on this topic. It was necessary to determine whether changes in early childhood education and care have influenced parents' expectations and opinions or whether they still expect primarily "care" and nurturing of their child. The research was conducted in the Istrian County and involved 118 participants – parents of young children (94 mothers and 24 fathers). The results indicate that there is no significant difference in opinions, expectations and experiences among respondents of different educational levels and genders, thus confirming the hypotheses. Similarly, opinions, expectations and experiences differ among parents with one or more children in the family, but the sample size is insufficient to confirm these hypotheses. Parents emphasize the importance of daily communication and cooperation with educators to promote optimal child development and learning and a large percentage express satisfaction with educators' preparation for the adaptation period and hope for continued good cooperation with them.