10 Things You Should Know About Sending Your Child to Daycare

 

Next week, school will start and many of you (including some friends I know!) will be sending your children to daycare or 'school' for the first time. Whether for a few days a week or full time, making the decision to send your child to daycare is not an easy one. We began sending Penelope when she was a mere 6 months old and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I look back on that first week and wonder how I got through it? In the months leading up to that first day, I wouldn't even allow myself to think about it, let alone accept it. But here I am, over a year later. We've made it through so far and I'm here to share a few things that I've learned with all of you first timers. 

1. You are going to cry. Probably a lot.

During the days leading up to her first week, I cried myself to sleep. I kept thinking to myself (and whining aloud to Shaun), what if she needs me and I'm not there? Not such an unreasonable thought. I cried each day any time I thought of this. When I finally brought her that first day, I put on a brave face until I handed my sweet baby over. And then the floodgates opened, and I cried. I cried the whole way to work and a few times in the bathroom stall throughout the day. The next day, it was a little less. And even less the day after that. Eventually, I stopped crying. I saw her happiness each morning as she was surrounded by loving caregivers in a safe and fun atmosphere with children her very own age. And my tears were replaced with smiles.

2. Remember that schedule you finally got her accustomed to? Yeah, that's going to change.

I wrote out Penelope's schedule in fun colored markers on bright white paper and proudly handed it over to her 'teacher'. I'm pretty sure that was deposited right into the garbage. Once your child is in daycare, they are a whole new plan that may follow the whole class or vary by group. Either way, you just have to accept it. Since P hated naps when she was younger, I realized that I should be excited for the professionals to get her on a new schedule!

3. She will learn to do things without you.

And it sucks. It sucks hard. I remember dropping Penelope off one morning and being told that she was crawling. Like, no big deal. She started crawling. I felt so devastated because I had yet to see her crawl. It made me sad. And made me realize that there will be things that I'll miss. I'm a full-time working Mom and that's just the reality of it. So I asked them not to tell me those things. As long as she was progressing...Great! But I wanted to pretend like seeing her crawl on a Saturday morning was the first time she did it. And so I did.

4. Your child will get sick.

I always read and hear about how 'daycare kids' get so sick all the time. Well, it's kind of true. Penelope certainly is not sick all the time, but P has had two rounds of Coxsackie and at times, a seemingly constant runny nose. We got through it. In a way, I'm glad that she is exposed to germs so she can build her immunities!

5. You will get sick. And maybe your husband too.

I've had 3 debilitating stomach bugs since P started daycare.

THREE.

6. The first time you see the center's number light up your phone screen, you will probably have a small heart attack that may take a few years off of your life.

The first time this happened, I was completely rattled. I saw the number and just panicked. It turned out that they were calling all of the parents with a reminder that the tuition payment deadline was approaching. So, yeah. Heart attack unnecessary.

7. She will make friends.

And really, what is cuter than that? Penelope has made friends in daycare and when I ask her if she is excited to go to school and play with her friends, her face lights up. Her teachers tell me that she and another girl played together every day last year and they'd wait for each other to wake up from naps. Does it get better than that? I want Penelope to be comfortable around kids all the time. I know it will make her a more patient child and someday, hopefully, a great big sister. I know she would not be getting that same interaction with kids her own age; learning to share, learning to play, learning to socialize; if she were at home with a nanny or even with me.

8. She will have fun.

After sending P to daycare for over a year, I would never take her out or look back and regret our decision to go from nanny to daycare. In fact, I can't imagine her being cooped up in our apartment, day after day, with me or with anyone else. At daycare, she has a big room to play in, special chairs for breakfast and lunch, and exciting, new toys to discover.

9. You'll wonder if you are doing everything wrong.

Isn't that the everyday life of being a parent? I second guess everything that I do as a mother. And at the end of the day, as long as I know my girl is happy and so, so loved, well, I feel like I've done my job. It might not be a perfect set-up, but what would be? 

10. You will be ok.

It won't always be easy. In fact, like so many other parts of parenthood, it's really, really $&@!-ing hard. I still cry some days when I have to leave her. Last week was especially taxing since P was teething and had a raging, blazing diaper rash. It broke my heart to have to bring her to someone else for the day and head off to work. I worried all day long. But knowing she was in excellent care and that she was happy every day at pick up got me through it. I think it's usually harder on Mom and Dad than on our little ones. So many days I hate being a working mom (many days I love it, too) and I can't help but wonder if I'm making the right choice for my sweet baby doll. When I see her happy smile, her little round belly and chubby cheeks, and those long yawns and eye rubs at the day's end, I can't help but feel as though I am. 

 

It's in the {Daycare} Bag

{Penelope was not impressed by first day of 'school' photos}

Yesterday was Penelope's first day back to daycare. If you follow me on Instagram, then you're probably tired of hearing about it, but it's what's occupying my life as of late. It's only the beginning, but it's a tough transition for Penelope. At 18 months, she is old enough to know what she does and doesn't want to do. Right now, going to daycare is on the doesn't want to do list. But we'll get there, I'm sure of it.

Over the last couple of weeks, I spent some time prepping for her return, which I thought would be perfect timing for those of you just sending your kids to daycare or preparing for back to school days. Today I'm sharing what's in her bag daily and monthly, plus how I'm packing her lunch each day. So hold on to your hats, this is going to be a long one.

Each month, it's requested that we bring a roll of paper towels, a box of tissues, a sleeve of diapers and wipes. I label each with her name. For the throwaway wrap, I just used a Sharpie and for the longer term usage stuff (like the wipes container, which I will plan to just refill as requested), I used these cute name labels from Stuck on You.

I'm still testing them out for durability, but they couldn't be simpler to use or more adorable.

On a daily basis, I send her food for the day, 1 wipeable bib, 1 bottle, 1 sippy cup and a pacifier. On an as-needed basis, I send a clean swaddle blanket for naptime and an extra change of clothes (though I don't send this every day...only when she has worn through an outfit and they need a replacement. Otherwise, the extra outfit stays at her daycare center in her own cubby). I took these photos over the weekend, before her new daycare bag had arrived:

I ordered this sweet everyday lightweight tote bag (medium size) from LL Bean. To be honest, I'm not in love with her Skip Hop diaper bag (pictured above) for daycare. It doesn't hold everything comfortably and the top is a magnetic closure so it doesn't always stay closed if the bag is extra full. It's great for a quick trip out, but not for daycare bag purposes. This tote is small (smaller than it looks in this photo), washable, personalized and pretty.

In the food department, her daycare center actually provides breakfast, lunch and snacks, but I don't feel totally ok with all of the options and so I plan to still send her food most days. I know that she will want what the other kids have and I'm fine with that. I'm not going to be the mom who doesn't let her kid have the Oreos while all of the other kids have them, and my baby is left out. Especially since a life without Oreos is no life at all, youknowwhati'msayin'?

So with that in mind, I purchased this cute bento box (as part of a bigger set) for her and filled it with all kinds of her favorite things.

In this bento box, I included:

1/2 C Horizon mac 'n cheese, to which I added mixed vegetables

1/2 C vanilla yogurt

blueberries

green seedless grapes

cherry tomatoes

fork & spoon set

The box came with the two containers on the right side and for the tomatoes, grapes and blueberries, I just used silicon baking cups that I had on hand and can go right in the dishwasher with everything else at day's end. I put the name labels on everything. We will see how it all holds up in the dishwasher after a few days/weeks.

While Penelope is a good and cautious eater, I did end up cutting up the tomatoes and grapes. I usually let her eat them as is at home, but I'm not sure I'm ready to let her do that without my close watch. Smaller pieces it is, for now at least. 

We walk to daycare, and so I drop her off and pack up her stroller and store it in the coat closet at the center. All strollers are welcome, which makes it perfect for Shaun to pick her up in the evenings. If we had to cart the stroller back and forth after drop off and before pick up...well I'm not really sure how we'd manage that!

So that's what I did to prep for daycare. I imagine that back to school prep is about the same! I'd love to hear your stories and ideas. I'm always looking for simplified, creative ways to pack up her stuff with a little love thrown in :) And I'll keep you posted on some toddler bento box ideas as we move through these coming weeks and months! Meanwhile, please share your tips and stories!

Happy back to school days!

Penelope Jane: 12 - 18 Months

I know...what the what?!

I haven't decided if I'm more disturbed by the fact that Penelope is turning 18 months (tomorrow!), or that I haven't done a real update on her since she was 11 months old. Oops.

My sweet little love...where do I begin?

 

On the move:

Over the last bunch of months, Penelope has really done so much growing. On her first birthday, she was crawling (though this was more of a three-legged move, with one leg dragging behind her) and standing, but that was about it. She took her first steps just a few weeks later and by now, well she is straight up running. If she isn't running down the hallways in our apartment building, she is strutting her stuff like she owns the joint. Don't even think about putting her in the stroller because the girl on a mission.

FoMO:

This girl has a serious case of FoMo (Fear of Missing Out...capitalized!). She is a little party girl, and just as she hated to nap as an infant, she also doesn't care for it as a toddler. It's often a fight to get her to nap, but at the same time, she really, really needs them. She wants to be the center of attention and doesn't miss a thing. She is rambunctious, smiley and just an all around happy girl.

Toys:

Penelope has more toys than I care to count. She loves her chunky puzzles (though she can't quite fit the pieces into their respective homes, she knows where they go), her Sesame Street play kitchen, ride-on toys, and lately, her coloring book and crayons. I love these mess-free marker and coloring book sets...perfect for an 18 month old! Mom loves coloring with these too. She also loves her 'Dolly' and sleeps with her every night. 

Food:

In the food department, Penelope continues to be a really great eater. This summer, she really loves blueberries and tomatoes. Eggs, hummus, bell peppers, and pasta continue to be staples. She still loves her yogurt melts and in the snack department, also enjoys Annie's bunny grahams, YumOrganics fruit snacks. She is also learning to eat from pouches, which makes things a little easier for me and she seems to enjoy it. P is also using her spoon and fork (sometimes insisting on a real, metal fork, not her plastic baby fork) and drinking from a sippy cup! Lil' Miss Independent, for sure.

Words:

In the speaking department, Penelope said her first word on her birthday. She pointed to me and said "Momom." Bless her heart. Since then, she says Da (dad), wawa (water), Uh (uh oh), Wow!, Oooooh!, down, more and some others when prompted (like Nom! when I said 'Yum!'). She also shakes her head yes and no (mostly no...a lot).

Other stuff:

Penelope continues to love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She also loves movies including Despicable Me, Brave, Cars, Frozen, Tangled and Monsters, Inc. At bath time, she has started pouring water from cup to cup. She refuses to actually sit in the bathtub, which always makes me nervous, but it is what it is. She can climb long staircases and is learning how to go down the stairs. Not quite there just yet, but she at least seems to know that stairs are dangerous and she stops at the top of them to try and figure out how to get down. She is so curious as to how things work...always wanting to figure out how a box of raisins opens and closes, or how the cap screws on and off of her Gerber fruit pouch.

We are having such a fun summer. We flew on an airplane, spent a week in Aruba, played with a new water table (her fave) and have spent a few Saturdays at the splash park!

Time continues to fly by but I'm loving every moment. P will head back to daycare on Monday. Mom will cry. And we'll have a whole new routine to get used to. And in the meantime, happy half birthday to my sweet, happy, snuggly little babe!

Have a great weekend! What are your plans?