Wednesday, August 31, 2011

New Thing #42: Daycare fails & fun with Auntie J

The time has come, my blog friends, to talk of many things. Of eventually going back to work and searching for daycare and all the fun that brings...sigh. It had to happen sooner or later. I would rather eat an entire jar of fiery horseradish than arrange daycare. Unfortunately, it has to be done. So the great search has begun. I hope it has a better end than our last daycare search...

When I was preparing to go back to work after LP1 was born, I thought we had a perfect daycare lined up. Everything seemed to be going well. And then for some reason, two weeks before I was scheduled to return to work, LP1 decided she absolutely hated the place and would basically scream the entire time she was there. Daddy and I both tried to help her adjust but soon came to the conclusion that LP1 was telling us that this wasn't a place for her. As we spent more time at the daycare provider, we started to realize that things weren't as they seemed and it wasn't a place for us. Fortunately, we have wonderful family members who were able to step in to help us out with daycare for the six months I was back at work before LP2 was born. The entire experience, however, has left me a little nervous. I have been questioning my judgement and my ability to find sustainable daycare. The good news is that Daddy is really, really good at getting a good read on people and situations so he has been coaching me on things to look for this time so that we don't run into the same problems.

We had our first meeting with a daycare provider today. I was excited about this one, as it was within walking distance from our house and the information provided on the website seemed to jive with all of the things we were looking for. I was really, really hoping that we could get it all sorted with just one meeting. I got the LP ready to go and explained that we were going to make a new friend today. We were going to go to a lady's house to play with her toys and see if we liked being there and to meet some new kids. This was acceptable to them. It wasn't a lie. A few days ago, I had tried to explain to LP1 that eventually I will be going back to work. She burst into tears and wailed, "Mommy, you can't go back to work! I'm going to be really, really sad!" Oh no. Look over there...what's that in the corner? Oh yes. Mother guilt and feelings of being a horrible mother moving in. Excellent. I was wondering when that would show up.

So...we got there and I knew as soon as we were inside that this was NOT going to work for us. I'm just going to leave it at that because you never know who is online. Very nice lady, no question about that.  As I have yet to figure out how to gracefully make an immediate exit from a situation I have no intention of pursuing, I ended up staying for a little while, asking some basic questions and confirming that this was just not a suitable match for us. I have to figure out how to get out of these things faster. So far the only idea I've come up with is setting myself on fire but I think that would traumatize the LP.

We were back home just over 20 minutes after we had left. Grandpa had dropped off Auntie J just before we left, so the LP were thrilled to come home and play with her. We piled them into the ninky nonk and went for a long walk. LP2 fell asleep briefly on the way home and it was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. At one point he was sitting straight up, completely out. Auntie J made LP1 and I lunch (the greatest food is food prepared for you by someone else!) and spent the rest of the day hanging out with us. She chased the LP, played with them, fed them and took them outside. Auntie J will soon be heading off to graduate school and we will miss her very much when she goes. The LP just love having her around. So do I. One of our New Things before I go back to work will definitely be making a trip out to see her in her new digs.

We will continue the search for daycare. The right fit is out there. In the meantime, there is still much fun to be had. Tomorrow we have family from out west arriving at Grandad and Nan's house. I'm not sure just yet when we'll get to see them, but I do know we are most definitely looking forward to it!

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