After a week of James being home with mom and dad, we knew it was time to get him back into a daycare routine. While he was still well behaved, his desire to play with the iPad and watch television was growing by the day. Little things like increased temper tantrums and not wanting to nap were starting to wear on all of us. Overall, James needs a routine and schedule. We were doing our best to stick to that routine and to keep his mind stimulated, but mom and dad can't really compare to 5 other kids to play with.
So Monday morning, I called our first choice for daycare and went to fill out James' paperwork. This daycare provider takes children starting around 15 months and does a preschool program with them. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education and Psychology, on top of being a licensed provider for 20 years. We feel solid in this choice, even if she can't take the baby. We decided to hope that Rhonda will still be taking the baby when my maternity leave is up (more on that soon).
On Tuesday morning, Adam and I both took James to his first day. Adam worked from home and I went into the office, so I was glad to have some back up. James didn't really do much when we left, but according to the report I got, he had a rough morning. He spent an hour or so crying, which lead up to his complete meltdown. Apparently he was screaming "I want my mom" for a bit. But after awhile of sitting in Miss Linda's lap, he hopped down, started to play with the other kids, ate lunch, napped, and had a great afternoon. Wednesday, James cried when I left him, but only took a few minutes to get over my absence. This morning was the hardest on me, he started to cry before we'd even gotten to the house for drop off. I gave him a quick hug and made my exit, but even as I was leaving, I could tell he was crying less and less.
This is one of the times when being a parent is the toughest. I know he needs to go to daycare. I know I need to work and he needs to play with other kids. But my first instinct is to grab my little guy and bolt for the door. I've done pretty good, I haven't shed any tears yet, but hearing him cry for me just pulls at all my heart strings. Mission accomplished, kiddo - you know how to manipulate your mother.
So for the time being, James will go to his new daycare. I checked with Rhonda's neighbor today and she has been home resting since Monday. She is tired, but doing well from what I hear. They are estimating that next week they will be in touch with us parents about what is going on, so I am hopeful for good news. We do have 14 more weeks or so until the new baby will need care and I certainly hope that is long enough for Rhonda to recover.
I should also mention that the last two nights with James have been pretty uneventful. He's back to being his polite, upbeat self, has eaten a good dinner, told us about his day, and gone through our usual bedtime routine without fuss. Its a far cry from the moody little guy we were facing toward the end of last week. I can't say that he slept the greatest last night, but I think that's just coincidental, he is still only 2 years old and is bound to have a rough night here and there!
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