Daycare Wonders and Blunders

Daycare is part of our real world right now. Every morning Monday through Friday I get them up, feed them, dress them, spend some time with them, and then load up in the car to take them to daycare. As with anything there are positives and negatives. Although I never thought I would see any positives to leaving my kids under someone's care for 9 hours I am beginning to see a fresh perspective. I know that this perspective is coming from God. I am confident that he allows my mind to be open to the positive things about this situation. Otherwise, I can honestly say my heart would drown in sadness. This post is not meant to rationalize my children going to daycare. Be assured. There is not one minute that goes by every day of the week that Jared and I aren't thinking of ways that I can stay home. But this is our life right now and God is comforting my heart right now by helping me to see the positive aspects. With out this comfort I can tell you my spirit would be crushed. So here is the list of the great and not so great aspects of daycare.

Of course I'll start with the negative. ;)I know that this list will make all of the stay at home Moms who read this fall down on their knees and thank God that they are able to stay home with their kids. But read on to the positives for a another perpsective.

1. A week ago one of Kate's classmates contracted a disease called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Although this sounds like a disease that only horses can get it is apparently very real in daycare. It involves blisters on ... the hands, feet, and inside the mouth (Hence the name). So far neither Kate or her classmates have developed any symptoms and her teachers seem to think we are in the clear.

2. Last Monday Carson was fed the wrong bottle and formula. Yuck.There is another baby in his class, a girl named Carson. Guess who's formula and bottle he was fed? They were extremely apologetic and of course I accepted their apology.What else could I do? I watched the tape of the day before and watch the lady go to the wrong cubby and get the wrong bottle and feed him the wrong formula. The director has implemented a new system to make sure it never happens again.

3. Boo Boo reports. This is a report they fill out when your child has been injured in any way. Kate had 2 of these last week. Nothing major.Just a couple of bumps from tripping. She probably would have eventually done this if she were home.

4. Endless colds! My kids basically have a cold all of the time. And they have both had pink eye. I am told that all of this exposure will build strong immune systems. We shall see.

4. Missing smiles, laughs, giggles, hugs, kisses, words, silly behavior, cute faces, wrinkled noses, cries, feedings, rocking, holding, cuddling, (you get the picture.)

Ok, that's enough of the negatives. Here are the positives. By the way, I never thought I would write down a list of the positive things about my kids going to daycare. Again, it's God giving me this perspective.

1. Kate, a girl who will hardly touch real food (except for bread) at home eats everything they give her at daycare. Hamburgers, chicken, tater tots, pears, strawberries, mixed fruit, corn, carrots. You name it this girl eats it...at daycare. I've been told this is quite common. I think it's because she sees the other kids doing it.

2. Kate is a versatile sleeper. She sleeps on a mat at daycare. I think this is pretty amazing for a baby her age. She loves her crib and I didn't think she would do this. Her teachers say she goes right down for her nap.

3. Kate gets so much social interaction. She loves the other kids and wants to get down the minute we walk in the door. The kids actually come up and give her a hug.

4. I would say right now that Kate has no separation anxiety. For the first couple of days she would kind of hold on to my leg for a bit. Now when she steps in the room she is off and playing with a quick "bye!" to me.

5. Singing!Kate sings all of the time now. We can actually tell what the song is. She may not get the words down but she sings the tune. So far we have picked up Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the itsy bitsy spider. She does the hand motions and everything. It is so cute. I think I heard her singing the tune to the alphabet song this morning.

6. This last one is hard for me but I think very good for my kids. I can tell that both of my kids are very happy and comfortable with their teachers. They smile at their teachers. Kate even reaches out for them. I think it is pretty cool to see that my kids can trust and be comforted by someone other than Jared and me. Of course, we are their ultimate comforters but it is nice to know that they feel that can look to others for comfort also.

Well, their it is, the nitty gritty and the upside. This is our life right now and even though it is not ideal we still feel blessed. We feel blessed by the daycare and the teachers that take care of our kids everyday.