Daycare Update: Week 3

Group Daycare Art

The first day I dropped off our bambino at daycare he cried. Hard. One of the caretakers said she’d bring him to the window to wave as I left. I hurried down the stairs and out the door only to see my child reaching for me through the window while crying hysterically in another woman’s arms. I held back the tears until I turned away. Like my son, who understood less about daycare no matter how much we explained, I was in a full panic.

Our son continued to cry hysterically when one of us dropped him off or picked him up. Then he stayed home sick for a few days and we started the next week with the same crying.

Somehow, by mid-week of the second week, he didn’t cry when we dropped him off. He wasn’t smiling, but he seemed ok. What a relief that he was finally getting comfortable and enjoying his time with the other kids and the caretakers.

We received written and verbal reports about how the 18-36 month olds made a group ball polar bear with cotton balls, hand prints and other (messy) things we’d never tried at home. I was told that he tasted some new foods, like oranges (which he refused at home), chicken teriyaki and sloppy joes. He sat in his chair next to the other kids to eat. He was sleeping (there was photographic proof!) on a cot while all the kids napped and particularly enjoyed dancing to music and reading books.

Between calling the daycare to check up on him, I’ve been catching up on work and the endless things on my to-do list that I put off these last 18 months. I even caught up with a few friends and saw the El Greco exhibit at the National Gallery.

“Me-time” may have evolved into a glossy magazine cliché, but it is vital. We all need time to be ourselves, as well as parents, spouses and workers (in my case, teacher.) And artists need time to work on their art, both the creation and the business side of it (submitting, etc.) I have just started to think and draft a few lines that may become the next writing project and that feels impossibly wonderful.

While I still feel guilty for (what sometimes feels like) abandoning my son, I know he’s learning new skills, including navigating relationships with other grownups and children, and having fun, too. And this mamma of a child who doesn’t sleep for 8 consecutive hours at night needs time to be a better person and in turn, mamma.