Monday, April 13, 2009

Confessions of a day care survivor

It's taken three weeks, but we're finally into a day care groove. The first week was a bit of a disaster and the Wee One had no idea why we kept abandoning her in the care of strangers. Wife-like Substance started crying each morning just about as soon as we got in the door, so it was up to me to do the dirty work of handing the Wee One over. As soon as the exchange was made she realized that we were leaving and would start to howl. It's no fun leaving your screaming child in the hands of someone you don't even know, but I knew it was something that we needed to do. By week two, the Wee One would initially cry, but be over it even before we left the building, which was encouraging. At the same time, WLS was starting to be able to keep her composure at least until getting back in the car. Fewer tears all around!

Last week was totally different. We did all of the normal routine, but when I put the Wee One down she didn't cry. Instead, she looked up at me with a sad expression, waved and said "bye". I thought "this is great, I think she's finally okay with all this and I won't have to deal with anyone crying in the morning!" Then, as I was walking out the door, she turned to me and blew me a kiss (which she rarely does) and damnit if one of us didn't have tears in their eyes. Unfazed, she went to play.

11 comments:

  1. I think my exact words to my mother on the first day of pre-school (@~3yo in land far, far away) was "you can't stay with me mummy, pre-school is only for big kids like me." I guess my independent streak started pretty early.

    Glad to hear things are calming down for you.

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  2. AAAWWW. Before you know it she isn't even going to want hugs anymore. Then she's going to want you to park around the corner when you drop her off because she is 'embarrassed' by you. Talk about bawling!

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  3. I'm just going to pretend that she's never going to grow up for now. Thinking about her being 6 hurts my brain and 16 makes me feel mildly ill.

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  4. The *best* part of the daycare routine is when you go to pick them up. At first they are so super happy to see you, but then suddenly they start to like it there so that when you get there, they scream that you are taking them away. Twice last week, the monkey was 'no bye bye, away mommy" when I went to get him. Good times...

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  5. Does she still look like she did in that video you posted of her laughing? Because I think I might explode at the cuteness of that mental image.

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  6. Enjoy it while you can. DrDrA is right - they grow up very quickly. My eldest turns 11 tomorrow...

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  7. Awww. Cute! I much prefer daycare pick up to daycare drop off.

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  8. Congratulations on making it through! That's a really tough transition...

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  9. SM - I think we're a ways from there yet, but I'm sure we'll get there soon enough. If I've learned anything about kids at this stage it's that each week is different.

    Arlenna - She's got more hair and a couple more teeth, but the same laugh.

    Odyssey - Happy Birthday to your eldest.

    Caroline - Yeah, drop off is not fun, but it's great to see her smile when we go to pick her up. It doesn't matter how crappy my day was, that is always a bright spot.

    Ink - Thanks. We seem to do our changes all at once. When the Wee One was born we got back from the hospital and I got a call from Employment U a day later and all of a sudden we were planning a large international move. While this is not as big, having WLS go back to work and the Wee One go to day care has been yet another "all in" transition. I guess it's the tearing off the band-aid approach.

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  10. Oh, wow. When it rains, it pours, right? Well, that's even more impressive!

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