We have decided on a child care option for Jack come fall. In order for me to do some classroom observations for school, I need a happy place to put the boy for a few hours each week. The place I found is not close to home but convenient enough and open a bit later than most early education schools. They have a super cool stroller that they take toddlers and babies out for walks in and they will do cloth diapers (sold). But more importantly they follow a "learning through creative play" curriculum that I like. I think he will dig it and I will be able to double down on classes so that I can get this teaching license, a job and then we can move to our fictional "big house." Oh you know the one...4 bedrooms 2.5 baths, 2 car garage, front porch, laundry room where we can stash the cat box and finished basement.
It won't be easy to leave the little dude, but the time was going to come eventually. Plus I think that he will have a lot of fun mingling with other little kids. I have mommy guilt about the whole thing but why is that? Plenty of moms and dads go off to work and their kids go to day care and baby sitters and they all turn out ok.
It is a BTAD or a big time adult decision. I run into these from time to time and they are always exciting challenges. I spend 88.5% of my day hanging out with a 1 year old and playing, our biggest decisions involve whether or not we should read the counting book in English or Spanish at this moment or whether making muffins or play doh is a better way to spend the afternoon. After basically working for $$ since I was 15, it is a nice departure-I'm not going to lie, but I do miss the daily grind from time to time, the cliche of "grass is greener" and whatnot.
I think the trick is to live in the present, like they try to teach you in yoga. If you don't hold onto the moment, it is gone and you are left with "remember whens." These are fine, but I think you will yield more out of life by giving into the moment and remembering "now" rather than "when."
Just for piece of mind you should probably check out their license status on the state website: http://www.colorado.gov/apps/cdhs/childcare/lookup/index.jsf
ReplyDeleteIt was hard at first to leave Denia even for a couple of hours at the beginning, but she loved her center. The fact that she wanted to go helped a ton with my separation anxiety.