uncategorized Daycare Dilemma: Lost & Found | Better Way Moms
Today is May 18, 2012

Triumphs

Changing the header for this page.

Daycare Dilemma: Lost & Found

 

Some ask what happiness looks like. For me, I think it changes from day to day, depending on where I am in life. What happiness is to me today: watching my daughter’s tummy get peppered with kisses on the webcam of our daycare’s website, while sitting at my office desk. 

Truth is, I was very nervous when I first went back to work. I was able to spend six months at home after she was born, as my company closed while I was on maternity leave (luckily and unluckily for me). My husband and I were nervous to put our daughter in day care — we knew nothing about it really. Of course we did the proper due diligence and checked certifications and incident reports. We vetted the organization and asked for references. But still, how could we really know that she was not only going to be OK, but thrive in this environment? The bottom line was, it wasn’t us. We wouldn’t be there. 

We went in for an on-site tour of the daycare we liked best. To get to the entrance, we had to walk down a flight of stairs on the side of the building. That was strike one, being that stairs and strollers don’t mix. As I entered the facility, a couple of things struck me immediately. It seemed pretty standard, what I had envisioned and expected. Toys and pictures and mini-chairs and cubby-holes. But what really caught my attention was the utter lack of mayhem. Now the kids were walking around, talking and playing, but no one was screaming. No one was having a melt-down. The absence of huge chaos was immediately reassuring to me. And then, I met the staff, and they all seemed like aunts or cousins. There was something familial and homey about them. They were warm, friendly and thrilled to meet us. One of them mentioned how excited they were to play with our daughter. And our daughter looked inquisitively at all of them, checking them out and taking it all in. 

As my husband and I walked out of there, we looked at each other and knew we had found our place. Fast-forward to the present day: our daughter constantly talks about her caretakers and classmates. She walks around our home singing the classic songs she learns there, and teaches us some new ones too. People have asked if she cries when we drop her off — the answer is no, she cries when we pick her up! Though I’m always looking for opportunities to work fewer hours to spend more time with her, I could never pull her out of her daycare completely. She’s so clearly happy there, and she is thriving. And so, I happily drag the stroller up the stairs when picking her up in the evening, knowing that she has so fully enjoyed another day.

Author: Amy