When we walked in, he took his coat off and started playing without a glance in my direction. I stuck around to ask questions, talk to the two teachers in his room, and label everything in the giant bag I brought. (At Mrs. Daycare's house I never had to label anything! And I didn't have to bring sippy cups, or bibs, or lunch, or wipes, or a sheet and blanket. Just diapers and a change of clothes.)
After a while I went over to give him a hug and say goodbye. He started wailing, "MOMMY, MOMMY!" and clutching my arm. The teachers were ignoring both of us. I tried not to prolong the departure too much, and with hugs and kisses and some attempt at comforting words, I headed out the door, leaving him sobbing.
As soon as I left, one of the teachers went over to calm him down and show him some toys. Happily distracted, he settled down into his new environment and even started to make some new friends.
At least that is what I hope happened. JW will get the report this afternoon.
I keep thinking about him, left in a new place with new people after a year and a half (that's three quarters of his life) spent going to the same house every day, with the same three women caring for him. I wonder whether he liked his lunch and how he handled napping on a mat and whether he cooperated for diaper changes. I wonder what he's doing and whether he'll be happy or upset at the end of the day. Will he be excited to go to school tomorrow, or will I have to wrestle him into the car and feel guilty that we made the wrong decision by switching him?
I really hope this is one of those transitions that's tougher for me than it is for him.
Update: First day was a success! He cried for a few more minutes after I left, but was happy the rest of the day and even napped on the mat for an hour and a half. Hooray!
I'm sure it is.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good decision to switch him now. He'd have to make a switch at some point for preschool or Kindergarten and I think younger is usually better. He's old enough to appreciate and be excited by the new toys and activities and I think the transition would have been even tougher if you'd waited another 6 months to a year.
But it's hard, I know. I bet your version of what happened next is going to be pretty accurate.
Oh and P.S. Don't worry if he cries when JW picks him up too. Landon's first week in daycare he cried every time I dropped him off and burst into tears when I picked him up. I think he was just exhausted and seeing mama reminded him that he was tired and that I hadn't been there all day (even though he was totally happy in between pick-up and drop-off, I could watch him on the daycare's web cameras for proof).
ReplyDeleteAnd then about 5 months in he cried when I picked him up because he didn't want to go. It's a constantly shifting thing. The only constant is that he is happy and having fun during the in between time, I'm sure K will be too.
Any kind of transition is tough, but that's why they're called transitions ... the time in between the normal. I'm sure K will be doing great at the new place!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the rest of the week!
You're bringing back memories of Q's transition from in-house Mrs. Daycare to a more school-like setting. I think she was 13 months when we switched. And I think I took the day off of work and just spent her first day there with her. I needed to know what her day was like. It was really hard on me, literally it was hard on my butt, in that I had to sit on the floor with no chair for several hours because the 1-year-old room had almost nothing you could fall off of, including chairs! Boy was I glad to get back in the car at the end of that day.
ReplyDeleteAww. Yay!
ReplyDeleteAnd I remember thinking, "How can the "teachers" handle spending all day without a chair to sit on??!?" Aha! The room was staffed with split crews: a morning crew and then an afternoon crew. So the people who were there in the morning left around midday, after spending three or four hours chairless, and the people in the afternoon were also only there for three or four hours at a time. I was the only one who was there, sitting on the floor with a numb backside, for nearly a full eight hours. But I have to say, splitting the care providers into two groups like that was a brilliant way to keep them fresh and able to cope with chasing after those kids all day long. I thought it was a brilliant plan. And I was satisfied enough that I never spent the day there again, nor did I wonder about her schedule or activities or safety. I wish they had video cameras like LL mentions, though. That would have been a much nicer way to evaluate her first day.
ReplyDelete