Eventually, the day had to come. School pre-planning arrived, which meant day care for my little Monkey. Earlier in the summer, my mother and I spent a day shopping for day cares, and I found one that I liked reasonably well. The big selling point was that it was less than a mile away from school. It was also fairly new, so it was small and clean. Alex would be one of two babies.
My husband went with me the first morning. He said it was so he could meet the workers there, so they'd know him if he ever had to pick Alex up, but it was really for moral support. It wasn't that I was worried. I was just going to miss my baby, that's all. We'd been together ALL SUMMER.
Anyway... I was prepared! I had Alex's bag all packed with his diapers, formula, a bottle, a change of clothes, a burp cloth, a toy... everything I thought he'd need. It's a good thing I packed a change of clothes, because I forgot to pack a bib. I also wrote up Alex's "typical" schedule (naps, feedings, etc.). Not because I expected them to follow it, of course -- I'm not THAT much of a spaz-mom -- but because I'd noticed on the application there was a space for "Is there anything we should know about your child" and I thought my schedule might help them out if they were trying to figure out why he was fussy.
The owner of the center seemed appreciative of the list, but told me, "You'll probably notice that he'll be more tired in the evenings, because we try to keep the babies up doing brain activities." Keep them up?! Strange, I would have thought they'd want the babies to nap. I know I DO.
So it was at that moment I decided to look for another place. The mother of a couple of my students had given me a card for a woman who runs a day care out of her home. We were on the same page for napping, but she lost me when she said I would still be paying for the space if she took a vacation. She decides to go on vacation for a week, and I have to pay her AND find someone else to keep my child? I don't think so.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Alex's first week at day care was surprisingly smooth. The baby teacher is far more accommodating about nap time than I was led to believe, and she seems to do very well with Alex. I like getting his daily "Cuddle-gram" that tells me when he napped, ate, peed and pooped. I like seeing "Alex was [x] happy [ ] sad [ ] fussy [x] other __outside___" (I am assuming someone TOOK him outside, and that that's a good thing). He's going to stay there for now.
Plus, it literally takes me TWO MINUTES to drive there after school. That's less time I have to spend away from my boy.
My husband went with me the first morning. He said it was so he could meet the workers there, so they'd know him if he ever had to pick Alex up, but it was really for moral support. It wasn't that I was worried. I was just going to miss my baby, that's all. We'd been together ALL SUMMER.
Anyway... I was prepared! I had Alex's bag all packed with his diapers, formula, a bottle, a change of clothes, a burp cloth, a toy... everything I thought he'd need. It's a good thing I packed a change of clothes, because I forgot to pack a bib. I also wrote up Alex's "typical" schedule (naps, feedings, etc.). Not because I expected them to follow it, of course -- I'm not THAT much of a spaz-mom -- but because I'd noticed on the application there was a space for "Is there anything we should know about your child" and I thought my schedule might help them out if they were trying to figure out why he was fussy.
The owner of the center seemed appreciative of the list, but told me, "You'll probably notice that he'll be more tired in the evenings, because we try to keep the babies up doing brain activities." Keep them up?! Strange, I would have thought they'd want the babies to nap. I know I DO.
So it was at that moment I decided to look for another place. The mother of a couple of my students had given me a card for a woman who runs a day care out of her home. We were on the same page for napping, but she lost me when she said I would still be paying for the space if she took a vacation. She decides to go on vacation for a week, and I have to pay her AND find someone else to keep my child? I don't think so.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Alex's first week at day care was surprisingly smooth. The baby teacher is far more accommodating about nap time than I was led to believe, and she seems to do very well with Alex. I like getting his daily "Cuddle-gram" that tells me when he napped, ate, peed and pooped. I like seeing "Alex was [x] happy [ ] sad [ ] fussy [x] other __outside___" (I am assuming someone TOOK him outside, and that that's a good thing). He's going to stay there for now.
Plus, it literally takes me TWO MINUTES to drive there after school. That's less time I have to spend away from my boy.
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