Today was Wiggles' first day of daycare. He did great! I've got a cute slip of paper that tells me he made friends, caught bubbles, colored with crayons, looked at books and sang songs. Busy day! He ate half of his lunch and slept for an hour for nap! (we didn't think he'd sleep at all...) And when I came in to pick him up he looked happy to see me - but didn't run over or anything. And as we walked past the playground to leave he wanted down to go play.
So I think he liked it.
I, on the other hand, was a wreck all day. I didn't cry until I left the building - but then I cried the rest of my drive. And when I got to my office. A few times after that. Sigh.
And now we do it all again tomorrow. And I don't know why I feel so down about it when he clearly had a good time.
Showing posts with label Daycare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daycare. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Thoughts on Daycare
Do you want to know the real reason I don't blog on this blog more often? I mean, sure, there's the fact that both Mr. Random and I are insanely busy juggling school, teaching, and a wiggly little boy, but more critically...it's because I blog this blog semi-anonymously with a different gmail sign in from my regular one. And yes, they have this fancy new multiple sign-on thing...but I can't seem to get it to work for the blog sign in, and quite frankly, I can't be bothered most days to sign out of my regular email, sign into this email, and then blog. How lame is that? It might take 60 seconds, but it's just...impossible for some reason. So then, I do as I am doing right now, and open a different browser and sign in as Banshee and then blog. Because...that seems easier? It does I guess. But this browser crashes all the time, which is annoying as hell, and the result is that I don't do it very often.
Which ultimately, is why this blog isn't updated more often. I've written so many posts in my head it's annoying also to realize I can't remember them when I sit down to write them.
So. There we are.
But! It's 2012. A fresh and shiny new year, that promises at least some changes for the Banshee Family. First, Mr. Wiggles, my sweet little son, is starting daycare next week. I'm so torn. It's full time care, and I'm pretty sure it's the best option we have. He's on the waiting list for The Best option, but...as we need care now, we'll have to go for the 2nd Best, or the Best Option We Have. I feel like it could go great, or awful, and recognize it might just muddle along somewhere in between but mostly focus on the extremes. On the one hand, Wiggles is a very sociable little creature and may well love the interaction with other people his age/size as well as the teachers. Also, presumably, they will teach him more than we ever could as they are trained to do such things. On the other hand, Mr. Wiggles is a rather persnickety little sleeper and thus far, has never slept anywhere other than his carseat or his bed. And by some miracle, these people expect him to sleep on a thin little sleep-mat for nap time. With other kids in the same room. I'm very curious to see how that turns out. Any time we've tried to nap with him in the same room as us (traveling for instance) he basically throws a hissy fit the whole time. We have to let him fall asleep without being able to see us, then sneak in to lie down ourselves. So. There's that.
And then I just...worry. I mean. These are strangers, we will be trusting with our son, for most of his waking hours. And I feel sad. And scared they won't take as good care of him. That he might get hurt emotionally or physically, and that it might be permanently scarring. That he might feel like we've abandoned him on those first days, and that breaks my heart.
But then I remember that countless other children have gone through daycare, presumably unscathed. Many of them far better adjusted than I ever was as a kid (I never went to daycare). And I remember that he's nothing if not resilient, my little son.
And I hope. I cling to hope that this is truly the right best thing for our little family.
And I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't add that (a small) part of me is also looking forward to 37.5 hours of kid-free time per week. I already daydream of a schedule where I drop him off at daycare and Mon-Thurs go in to school and get my work done. And then...if it's all reasonably done by Thursday, I could take Friday to clean at home. Or craft. Or do things I haven't been able to do in about 1.5 years because I've had a kidlet hanging around. And then I could go and pick him up a little early after his nap and we'll have a lovely weekend together. It could be really good. But I think that might also be really daydream-y.
And boy am I going to miss the little Wiggler during the day.
Which ultimately, is why this blog isn't updated more often. I've written so many posts in my head it's annoying also to realize I can't remember them when I sit down to write them.
So. There we are.
But! It's 2012. A fresh and shiny new year, that promises at least some changes for the Banshee Family. First, Mr. Wiggles, my sweet little son, is starting daycare next week. I'm so torn. It's full time care, and I'm pretty sure it's the best option we have. He's on the waiting list for The Best option, but...as we need care now, we'll have to go for the 2nd Best, or the Best Option We Have. I feel like it could go great, or awful, and recognize it might just muddle along somewhere in between but mostly focus on the extremes. On the one hand, Wiggles is a very sociable little creature and may well love the interaction with other people his age/size as well as the teachers. Also, presumably, they will teach him more than we ever could as they are trained to do such things. On the other hand, Mr. Wiggles is a rather persnickety little sleeper and thus far, has never slept anywhere other than his carseat or his bed. And by some miracle, these people expect him to sleep on a thin little sleep-mat for nap time. With other kids in the same room. I'm very curious to see how that turns out. Any time we've tried to nap with him in the same room as us (traveling for instance) he basically throws a hissy fit the whole time. We have to let him fall asleep without being able to see us, then sneak in to lie down ourselves. So. There's that.
And then I just...worry. I mean. These are strangers, we will be trusting with our son, for most of his waking hours. And I feel sad. And scared they won't take as good care of him. That he might get hurt emotionally or physically, and that it might be permanently scarring. That he might feel like we've abandoned him on those first days, and that breaks my heart.
But then I remember that countless other children have gone through daycare, presumably unscathed. Many of them far better adjusted than I ever was as a kid (I never went to daycare). And I remember that he's nothing if not resilient, my little son.
And I hope. I cling to hope that this is truly the right best thing for our little family.
And I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't add that (a small) part of me is also looking forward to 37.5 hours of kid-free time per week. I already daydream of a schedule where I drop him off at daycare and Mon-Thurs go in to school and get my work done. And then...if it's all reasonably done by Thursday, I could take Friday to clean at home. Or craft. Or do things I haven't been able to do in about 1.5 years because I've had a kidlet hanging around. And then I could go and pick him up a little early after his nap and we'll have a lovely weekend together. It could be really good. But I think that might also be really daydream-y.
And boy am I going to miss the little Wiggler during the day.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Disparate Thoughts
I've composed several blog posts in my head these past weeks - doesn't do much good for actually getting them up here though!
So a list, or random disparate thoughts:
1. I need daycare. For my son. Pronto. He's on the waiting list at my first choice, but it doesn't look likely he'll get in by the time we need care. I have one more place to tour that's near campus...then I'll be looking at places near where we live, which lead into...
2. Where shall we live? We'll have to decide in January if we want to renew our lease or not. It looks like rent (which went waaaay up in the summer) has fallen back down to be inline with what we currently pay. We've basically said that if we can find a house to rent for the same price as our apartment rent, we'd prefer to move and live in the house. The trouble is...we for sure can't find a house in our current neighborhood at this price. And we really like our neighborhood. So...we'd have to move to a new neighborhood, and I'm not sure which one, and that makes the "looking at daycares near where we live" rather complicated.
3. I've taken up running. I really enjoy it. I feel happy when I run. It's so nice to start the day off feeling happy for half an hour!
4. We're traveling back to the PNW for Christmas. I am part excited, part happy, part anxious. The traveling part is always anxiety inducing. I'm sure it'll be great.
5. This semester is trying to kill me at the end. Work upon work keeps piling up with deadlines all aligned. It's just mean.
6. My dissertation has really come together in the past month or so. It's nice to have that clarity and, bonus, I like my project.
7. This maybe should be a post of its own, but our little Wiggles is slightly behind in verbal skills. He's meeting all of his motor milestones (and might even be ahead...Dr. didn't say) but he's not realllly talking yet. He babbles a bit, and most everything else is variations on Da. I guess he should be saying 3 words by now, but unless we count "uh oh" "chsssssssss" and "Da" he's not quite there. We've started narrating his play per the Dr.s suggestion (it feels silly) and it seems to be encouraging him to babble more! And last night when we read him the hungry caterpillar we both heard him attempt the word "butterfly" but that very well could have been wishful thinking. I guess the Dr will be looking to see if he can say 10 words by his next check up in 3 months.
So a list, or random disparate thoughts:
1. I need daycare. For my son. Pronto. He's on the waiting list at my first choice, but it doesn't look likely he'll get in by the time we need care. I have one more place to tour that's near campus...then I'll be looking at places near where we live, which lead into...
2. Where shall we live? We'll have to decide in January if we want to renew our lease or not. It looks like rent (which went waaaay up in the summer) has fallen back down to be inline with what we currently pay. We've basically said that if we can find a house to rent for the same price as our apartment rent, we'd prefer to move and live in the house. The trouble is...we for sure can't find a house in our current neighborhood at this price. And we really like our neighborhood. So...we'd have to move to a new neighborhood, and I'm not sure which one, and that makes the "looking at daycares near where we live" rather complicated.
3. I've taken up running. I really enjoy it. I feel happy when I run. It's so nice to start the day off feeling happy for half an hour!
4. We're traveling back to the PNW for Christmas. I am part excited, part happy, part anxious. The traveling part is always anxiety inducing. I'm sure it'll be great.
5. This semester is trying to kill me at the end. Work upon work keeps piling up with deadlines all aligned. It's just mean.
6. My dissertation has really come together in the past month or so. It's nice to have that clarity and, bonus, I like my project.
7. This maybe should be a post of its own, but our little Wiggles is slightly behind in verbal skills. He's meeting all of his motor milestones (and might even be ahead...Dr. didn't say) but he's not realllly talking yet. He babbles a bit, and most everything else is variations on Da. I guess he should be saying 3 words by now, but unless we count "uh oh" "chsssssssss" and "Da" he's not quite there. We've started narrating his play per the Dr.s suggestion (it feels silly) and it seems to be encouraging him to babble more! And last night when we read him the hungry caterpillar we both heard him attempt the word "butterfly" but that very well could have been wishful thinking. I guess the Dr will be looking to see if he can say 10 words by his next check up in 3 months.
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