1. If putting your child to sleep by letting them fuss or cry by themselves for a few minutes is your only (non-driving) way to get your kid to sleep....daycare will not be fun for the teachers or your child (They don't have a quiet, dark room to put him in, he is constantly around others and they can't let him cry too long.)
2. No one has any answers for me about how to get him to fall asleep by voluntarily putting his head down and sleeping.
3. You have to buy extra of everything to keep at daycare; If you have "just enough" for yourselves at home, it won't be enough. (extra bottles, blanket, clothes, bibs, food, crib sheets, diapers, etc)
4. Your child may not eat/drink the same way at daycare as he/she does at home for you.
(I.E. consumed 1/2 of what he normally does.)
5. If the teachers look tired when you pick up your kid, but say that he "is adjusting," assume that he was crying all day very similar to your worst day ever. If he's hoarse when you pick him up, this is further evidence of his "adjustment."
6. The teachers may appreciate cookies, but they appreciate you picking him up early, even better.
7. Things happen. If he falls down for you, he's going to fall down there too.
8. They don't care if shows up in his pajamas.
9. The ratio is not one-to-one anymore. Now, there is a poor, underpaid soul who has to deal with your child AND at least 3 others who may or may not share the same temperment. If he is crying more, it might be because he can't be held or picked up as often anymore.
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2 comments:
OY! This is both helpful and not. I am terrified for all of us (Me, Oren and Mike). I feel like I am abandoning him. I feel very guilty. I feel like he will change. He will lose his jolly (except for today) personality. I don't want to do this. I can't do this. They can't love him all day long like I can. They can't get frustrated and want to go jogging (yes, I actually wanted to go for a run when I came home to find all my friends in my house, after leaving Oren with Mike to run errands) and still love him deliciously.
I need a break. I need time to get my act together. I need to get a job. We need money. I need a career. I need to pursue my DSW. I need a life outside of him.
Do I really get to have that? Do I get that pleasure (filled with guilt, maybe). Mike doesn't have to feel guilty. It is not fair. Will Oren hate me? Will he be better off and then I will hate myself? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I have to say that when the sitter started with me (when Talia was three months old) I felt the same way. You just sort of get used to it and you stop feeling bad. You start to see the good in the situation (the things that a new childcare situation offers that you can't - new surroundings, new adults, new skills, new kids, new toys) more than the bad. You start to see your kids blossom in ways they might not have blossomed with you alone. You see them become much more resilient to different types of environments and soothing techniques. And you just feel at peace. Or at least I do. I hope you do, too.
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