Daycare,  Parenting

A Snotty, Pretty Mess

Who is going to take care of him as good as me????
Who is going to take care of him as good as me????

So, next week is my first week back at work.

(sob, snort, hiccup, sob, sob, hiccup, snort)

I have been preparing for this week since the Beanie got here.   Well, preparing/dreading/trying desperately to avoid.   Whatever.

Anyway, so the week has finally arrived.   I think what I am worried the most about is that on Monday I’m going to drop him off and Beanie won’t know anyone and he’ll think that I’ve abandoned him with strangers.   How scary!!!   So to prevent this terrible feeling of panic in Beanie, I called his daycare today to see if I could bring him in for half days this Thursday and Friday in preparation for Monday. This means that Beanie actually starts daycare this week.

(sob, hiccup, snort, snort, sob, hiccup)

So this morning I’m on the phone with the owner of the daycare and I’m asking what time I should bring Beanie by on Thursday and before I know what’s happening – I’m sobbing.   ON THE PHONE.   I mean really sobbing.   Like, I can’t form words.   The wonderful owner of the daycare confirmed why I chose this daycare by saying sweetly, “Its okay.   This happens sometimes on the phone with new moms.”   And then she went on to tell me that I could stay with Beanie as long as I wanted on Thursday until I felt comfortable leaving him.

I didn’t tell her on the phone, but I’m N-E-V-E-R leaving.

Needless to say, I was pretty traumatized by the time I got off the phone so I thought I’d call my sister and see if she could cheer me up.   I’ve mentioned before that Ginny recently left a high-profile, fast-paced, successful, I-can-kick-your-butt career in PR to move to a small town in Virginia with her fiance.   She is now teaching preschool to 3-year-olds and is getting used to her new life.

Apparently, she was having an off-day when I called her because she proceeded to tell me about how much she hates working at a daycare.   And I quote:

What’s wrong with these snot-nosed kids?   What is so freaking hard to understand about ‘Stand in line like a soldier?’   I mean – everyone knows how soldiers stand!   What do they not get about ‘Put your hand on your hip and your finger over your lips?’   I mean, really!   What is SO DAMN HARD ABOUT THAT!!??!?!?

“…And you know what they think is fun?   Banging cups on the table.   Banging cups, Katie.   So, I go up to this one kid and I say, ‘Hey!   What is so fun about banging a stupid cup?’ and you know what she does?   She laughs and starts banging TWO cups!   HOW IS THAT FUN?!?!?”

The crackheads in the four-year-old room spit their juice.   Spit their juice.   WHY??!??!?!?

At one point I seriously considered throwing them out the window.   Or jumping out myself.   I mean – they aren’t even potty-trained, Katie.   They show up with Pull-Ups and they think they are big kids.   No.   Big kids pee in toilets.   You are wearing disposable underwear.   You are not a grown up.”

By the time Ginny calmed down from her rant, I was almost in tears again.   Was this the kind of person working in Beanie’s daycare?   Was this what would be caring for him all day?

Thankfully, my sister assured me that the answer to both those questions is no.   Which is why she is looking for another job.   Maybe she isn’t meant to care for small children.   In fact, its probably best if Ginny finds a job which keeps her out of contact with all living beings for a while…

Meanwhile, I’ll try to block that conversation out of my head and instead I will tell myself that Beanie will be cared for by a room full of young, cute, happy, glowing, singing Mary Poppins groupies and that when I drop him off at daycare he will have so much fun that he won’t even notice I’m gone.

(sob, hiccup, sob, snort, hiccup, sob)

5 Comments

  • Laura

    I can’t imagine how hard it must be leaving him. I used to teach Kindergarten and the moms would always cry more than the kids. They would give me 20 contact numbers and email me all day long! It just showed me how amazing motherly love is! Anyway, the kids always do way better than the moms, much to their surprise!

    I’ll say a prayer for you on Monday.

  • Katy

    If it’s any consolation, I worked at a daycare for years, before deciding to become a lawyer (only God knows why I did that). LOVED every day of it. Sure, it’s not for everyone, but anyone who does it for awhile either is a masochist, or really gets a kick out of coloring, obstacle courses, and the like. Crazy people like me might even teach your child to count to 10 in 14 different languages (no joke). Beanie will have a wonderful time, and I’m sure he’ll be surrounded by only the most perfect Mary Poppins-clones.

  • Catherine

    I’m sure it will get easier after you have a week or two under your belt. Good luck!! (I love that picture of you two!)

  • Heather

    hang in there – it gets much better. i posted a while back but i’ll say it again – realize that the people in school (we like that word better then daycare…) aren’t you, are going to do things a little different than you would, but that’s okay. as long as you have confidence in the people you are leaving your child with, you will adjust. the first day is the hardest but after a bit you get used to it. i think the people i leave my kate with care for her and she learns a bunch of stuff that i might not think about doing during the day (i’m the kind of persont that needs structure in the day – i would laze around and not clean up at all unless someone was coming over to the house). luckily, at this age they don’t have a lot of separation anxiety so it is pretty easy to leave them someone else. hang in there – i feel for you but you’ll get through it.

  • browneyednerd

    I’m sure that Beanie will make friends with all the Mary Poppins groupies and you get more comfortable with the idea of leaving him. Maybe you should ask Chris to swing by the grocery store and get some ice cream.

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