So my husband and I started working out at a new gym this week, and one of the biggest draws for that gym in particular is that they have a daycare so we can take Emmy while we work out...or I can go when he's sleeping and not have to worry about what to do with Em.
I was nervous to take her on the first day....I knew I would be ok without her, and I trusted that they would take good care of her, but this was her first time EVER being left with anyone other than grandparents or aunts and uncles. And the aunt and uncle thing is kind of rare even. I was a very shy child, as Em can be, and I remember the awful anxiety I had when my mom dropped me off for things. I worried she wouldn't come back, or forget...I'd often cry when she'd drop me off, or at least be terribly anxiety ridden, and when it got close to the time she was supposed to pick me up, I would get the nervous butterflies, worried every minute that ticked by that she wasn't there.
I don't think she was ever late, but the nerves set in as soon as the first parent arrived, until she walked in the door. I dealt with this much of my childhood, I can even remember feeling anxious and "homesick" at a day program my parents made me go to for church when I was about 10 or possibly older. So my nervousness surrounding Em going to this daycare was that she would feel the way I used to as a kid. I know it's necessary, she cannot be with us or grandparents forever, and it's good for her. But still, you hate to see your baby scared.
She learned about school from somewhere, a show or something, so for the last couple weeks we've been talking to her about the daycare, calling it school, so she's been really excited to go. When we got there she was the first kid there, and the staff was really nice. When I asked her to say hi she buried her face in my leg, but quickly warmed up when Ryan got down a castle with princess dolls in it. I also showed her the video for the Kissing Hand the night before, which is about a racoon who is nervous to start his first day of school away from his mom.
So we got her set up with the castle and stayed with her for a minute or two and then we said we were going to go work out next door and we'd be back to get her in a little while. She did look a little worried for a second, but then Ryan pointed out other things she could play with. So I was amazed, no tears, and she was fine when we left. We peeked in without her seeing us on the way to the work out room and she seemed to be happily playing.
She was there for just over an hour....the time limit is 2 hours, so that is the very most she would be there but I doubt we would work out that long unless we reserved court time to play tennis. When we went in to pick her up she was happy to see us but she didn't seem like she couldn't wait to get out of there. The one lady asked if she is in pre-school or anything and we said no, and she was amazed and she said how well she did. She was playing with my little ponies when we got there and she gathered them up to put them away with no complaints. She said she had fun and sounds excited to go back. Whew, I'm so glad. I used to work in a day care and you could tell which kids had been day care kids since almost birth, they were fine when they got dropped off. Then there were the ones that would cry when mom or dad first left, but would be ok after a few....or cry once they realized mom or dad had snuck out. And THEN there were the ones that never stopped crying. I subbed in one of the 3 year old rooms for one day and this little girl cried for the entire 2 hours I was there, and I was told she had done that all week. Poor kid.
So I was happy to hear that Emmy didn't have any meltdowns after we left once she realized we weren't coming back right away. I'm taking her by myself on Friday, so let's hope day two goes just as well. We don't want to put her in pre-school until she's 4. I figure she'll have to do things and go places for her entire life, why start that daily grind earlier than you have to? But I wanted her to do something to make a smoother transition from being home with me all day, to going to preschool, so I think this will be really good for her. Especially since she is an only child, going to "school" 3-ish times a week for an hour or so for the next year and a half should help prepare her for pre-school, without commiting to two years of it before Kindergarten.
In other good news, she's gotten much better about telling me when she has to go potty, AND going #2 in the potty. She's been pee pee during the day trained since April, but she still has accidents now and again, and going #2 was really hard. She would either go in her pull up or underwear and not tell us, or she would tell us, as she's walking funny and grunting. But I think it's been at least two weeks since we've had an accident and she's been pooping in the potty really well. I try to remind myself all the time, no child has ever grown up and gone off to college still pooping their pants. But I really was starting to worry that she'd never get it, and then one day, it clicks. I don't think we're out of the woods yet, but we're getting there.
She's also been waking up dry most days. I read the book, Oh Crap, Potty Training, to train her for daytime and it was great. But I wasn't fond of the way they recommended night training. They recommend that it be done at the same time, and you wake up every few hours to have them use the bathroom. YUCK! I'd always heard tons of kids that were potty trained during the day but not at night for a while, so I figured I'd see how that went. But I'm pretty sure the book warned against letting them get too old before you nipped it in the bud, because the later they night train, the more troubles you'll have with bed wetting for years and years.
So I was starting to worry that it wouldn't happen on its own, and I'd have to actually "train her", but things are looking good. I'd say for the last month, she's woken up dry for the majority of the days each week. I think I will start keeping track tomorrow, and when she hits two weeks dry, I'll take away nap and bed time diapers. Yikes! Scary, but if I survived taking her out in public with no diaper on when she first daytime trained, I can handle washing sheets for the occasional accident.
My baby is growing up too quickly. I've got to start planning for her 3rd birthday party soon!
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