I had a pretty great arrangement setup where a girlfriend of mine was keeping Dominic a few days per week. I'd drop him off at 5:30AM and get him around 3 in the afternoon. It was a great arrangement, and far less expensive than that of the dreaded cost of daycare. Soon enough, though, we came to realize that the flexibility we needed just wasn't there, and we faced the ultimate decision: Finding a school for our son.
Luckily, a girlfriend of mine has been taking her kids to the same school for around five years now, and it just so happens that she lives close by, and that the school is close by as well. Hubs and I went and checked it out, got the tour, met the teachers, saw some of the other babies and decided that it seemed like a really great school. It's not just a daycare where they watch the kids- they actually have lesson plans; and yes, they have lessons for my son, too! Things like learning how to grab things, rolling over, sitting up, etc. It's all in a daily routine and changes I believe each month, or every few months.
The first day I dropped him off was a complete shocker. From day one, dropping him off at my girlfriends house was easy peasy. I'd sit with him a few minutes, her and I would chat, and then I'd leave perfectly happy and without a worry. I didn't cry, I didn't feel apprehensive, none of that crazy mommy stuff.
Well, such was simply not the case when I dropped him off at school. No sirreee. I, my friends, was THAT mom. The one you look at and think, "That's a crazy lady."
Firstly, when I got there, one of the teachers (who was just helping that morning until Dominic's teacher got there) came to the front and immediately took Dominic and his carrier and headed back to the infants room. I was a bit surprised, but I went with it. It was 6AM, and I had to get some paperwork done anyway. We finished up front, and I went back to the infants room totally expecting it to be like when I left him at my friends- still swaddled, dark, quiet and cozy. You can imagine my surprise when he was unswaddled, it was bright, noisy and other kids were in there. I could have flipped my lid right there but I certainly bit my tongue and explained to the teacher that Dominic goes back to sleep at 6AM and isn't to be unswaddled, bounced around, or set in a play gym this early. Call me crazy, but my son is on a dang schedule and you're gonna follow it!
As innocent as that was, leaving out of there left me a complete wreck, even though Dominic was happy as a clam. I phoned my husband and completely lost it on him, describing this as a mistake, a horrible experience, the worst I could imagine. Basically everything was just awful and I couldn't be consoled. And yes, I cried. I cried and I could not think about ANYTHING else while sitting at work. I called up there a few hours later to see how he was doing, and again, to my surprise, he'd taken TWO naps already.
OK. So, it's not so bad. It's actually great! And he's napping, and eating, and playing. Alright, I guess I like this school.
I literally had to get comforted by several people at work and on the phone in order to come to a place where I could call the school without freaking out. They informed me that this was normal, that every mom goes through this, and that although I had been taking him to care before, this was totally different. You know, all of the NORMAL things people tell you.
So, I guess I'm not that mom after all. We're ALL that mom. Haha!
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