I am one of the few fortunate mothers who had the good luck of spending 2.5 years of my daughter's life with her at home. But, its time for her to enter the daycare bandwagon and i would be lying if I said I am so alright with it. Coping with starting daycare is a topic close to my heart and today as she starts daycare, its the perfect time to share the feelings a mother goes through.
I do some amount of freelancing on the side while taking care of my daughter and squeezing in time until now had been a breeze. But, as my daughter is reaching the age of 3, she is not the easy to distract child she has been all this while, and that is the sole reason I thought of daycare for a couple of hours every week.
I know it can be hard of SAHM fanatics to understand the need to work and I would like to cover it in another topic, but working for me is kind of a necessity. I want to work, but in my own hours. Even though that happens, along with the tons of work we have to deal with apart from cooking finding peaceful, mind you PEACEFUL time to complete some assignments that bring money home is not an easy feat with my daughter around.
I made my decision and with support of loved ones looked for a daycare where I think she will be cared for well. Next, was preparing her for the day and also myself for it. Had I taken up a full time job, I think I would have been better distracted, but since I was working from home, it was going to be tough.
When the day arrived, I cried my eyeballs out thinking about my little angel at a strange place. When I was feeding her and talking to her about the new place, the guilt was way too much. Women just are too emotional and that moment I really though this is true. My husband was very sure she will adjust and that is that of the discussion with him. No mulling unlike me! I packed her bag and we set off. When I reached, she was ecstatic to see so many kids of her age and just mingled with them. All the worries and anxieties just crashed with happiness that I have the most well-adjusted toddler at hand. I waved bye and told her I will be back, she waved back and I left.
All the while her happy face and her smile just fluttered around my eyes. I was at last at peace that she was ok, I don't know if she was happy, but she was fine. For the first day, I think it is more than enough!
Apart from this sob story, this is how I did the prep work -
Talk to the older child about where you are heading
Giving her a heads-up really helped me ease the process. I told her about the new friends she was gonna make and the new place she is gonna sleep in. This really helped when we finally reached there.
Trust the caregiver
This I cannot emphasize. It takes a village to raise a child. Trust the village, don't go overboard, but have confidence. If your parental instincts tell you that something is a miss, be sure to get that query addressed.
Create a goodbye routine
For us its a short - "Have Fun N and mamma will be back - kiss kiss" and I exit. I don't keep looking back cause more than her it makes me weak in my knees.
Reach ahead of time and stay around on first day
Stay with your child for 10-15 minutes in the first week after drop off. This will help her be at ease and make herself a little more comfortable as each day passes.
Pick up on time
Please don't be late or make alternate arrangements. I as a child hated being picked up last from daycare and I am sure your child won't be too happy either.
Shower extra love
I don't mean buying new stuff, but more kisses and cuddles! I can't wait to see the happy face of my little baby when I go back to get her.
I am just very new to the daycare game and as the days pass, I am sure that I will have many more fun experiences to share with you. By experience, I feel daycare is so much tough for the parents than it is for the kids. I was so gloomy the day I dropped her off and so chirpy when I picked her up. While, she was a consistent happy throughout.
How were your experiences on the first day of daycare? Let us know in comments!
