So Will starts at daycare on Monday. I have very mixed feelings about this. He's only going for two partial days a week, only slightly longer than I've been away from him for the last 6 months or so. (Right now I leave him at the sitter's at 7:30am and pick him up around 1:30am. Because of the daycare nap schedule I can't get him until 3:00 so he'll be there 1 1/2 hours longer.) There are pro's and con's to this new situation.
Pros:
- He will get to be around other children. I think he will have fun doing it and I think it will help socialize him (learning to share, gaining confidence, etc.)
- He will get to be more independent
- I think he will learn more things and more quickly in a school environment than at home with me (colors, shapes, letters, etc.)
- I will have an hour + to myself after work and before I pick him up to go to the gym, run errands, do stuff at home, etc.
- Stability. I won't have to worry about the babysitter's little boy being sick, her schedule, etc. As long as Will is not sick he can always go to daycare.
Cons:
- Getting sick constantly (at least at first)
- I worry he's going to pick up bad habits being around the other kids
- I have to pay for it even if he's sick and can't go or if we go on vacation. Because I'm hourly this sucks because I have to pay for childcare but am not making any $ to cover it.
- They only take one nap in the afternoon. Will is still on a two nap schedule and I'm worried this will screw him up.
- They eat things like pizza and hamburgers. I'm lucky if I can get Will to eat a sandwich. Plus, he is still not very good at feeding himself. I'm just overall worried that he's not going to eat while he's there. Also, these really are not very healthy things for a toddler to be eating.
The reality is, though, that I don't really have a choice. I mean, I obviously have the choice to not work anymore. I think that me working part-time is a good thing, though. It helps me feel fulfilled mentally and that I still have a self that is independent of being Will's mom. It also helps us be more comfortable financially. I also think that it is good for Will to be out of the house around other kids.
I really liked where he was, though, so it stinks to have to transition him. I know Chrissy. I'm comfortable with her. I've watched her mother her own little boy for almost a year. She's a nurse. Plus, I can tell that she is truly concerned about Will. I just worry that no one at the daycare will care about him like that. I worry about him falling down and getting hurt and no one really taking the time to comfort him. Or that for the first few days or weeks if he gets upset they don't take the time to calm him down and help him adjust. I've met the teacher and really like her. That's part of the reason I chose this particular daycare. But you just never know. Plus, she has 6 or 7 other kids to deal with at the same time. And Will, of course, can't tell me what's going on.
I've decided that I'm going to give it two months and re-assess. I'm sure it's going to be very hard the first few weeks because he's going to be adjusting so I think it's going to take that long to really give it a fair shake. I'm probably worrying too much, though, and, like most things, he will adjust and it will turn out just fine. It's just not in me to not worry, though, so, like everything else in my life, I've needed to over=analyze this.
Will continues to do new things, many of them very entertaining. He figured out how to spin the other day. He kept spinning around and cracking himself up. Then when he would stop he would, of course, be dizzy and fall down on his butt with a very confused look on his face. He LOVES to surprise everyone now. That's his new favorite game. I'm not even sure where he got this, but if I'm sitting on the floor playing with him he will walk around behind me and wait for me to "look" for him. Lots of "Where's Will?", "Where did Will go?", "Has anyone seen Will?" ensues (the more dramatic, the better, of course) until he walks around to the front of you and screeches. You have to act all surprised (again, drama is the key here) and he dies laughing. Also along these lines Peek-a-boo is a big hit. He puts his hands over his eyes (in a very ostrich-like fashion) and then pops out to surprise you. He also likes to hide objects. He hides is blankie in his dresser drawer on a daily basis only to pull it out and shriek with excitement to "surprise" me. It's really fascinating that at such a young age little ones can understand the concept of surprise.
Another funny thing he's been doing is using the word 'back'. He'll want to play with something and then when he's done he says "back" and points it in the direction of where it came from. Then we have to go and put it back in its place together. He's very into things being in their proper place and in order. For example, when he eats he has to have his sippy cup in the right-hand cup holder of his highchair tray. And when he does put things back they need to be standing up and in the right position. They can't just be haphazardly placed. OCD alert! If he starts having compulsions to touch things a certain number of times we're going to have a problem.
I'm starting a new knitting project. I am making myself a sweater. It's SO cute! I have pretty high aspirations with this one, though, and I think I may be biting off more than I can chew. the pattern is just a lot more complicated than anything I've done before and it has cables on it, which I have never attempted before. I figure that I have try it to learn, though, and worst case I have to rip it out and try again in a few months. I had to special order yarn at the yarn store because they didn't have enough of the color I wanted in stock. While I wait for it to arrive and practicing cables. Let's just say it's not going so well...
