Should I post an update every day we go to
daycare? Think “Daycare – Day 2290” will be interesting?

Lex woke up this morning insisting that he
would not go to daycare. He argued all morning, saying he
wouldn’t put on his clothes or his shoes. Then wanted to lock
the doors so we couldn’t leave the house. Then wouldn’t get in
the car, or out of the car. It was a joy. By the time we got
there he was kicking and screaming. He flailed and wailed and
then clung to me and Alan like his life depended on it. Upon
the advice of the daycare teacher and several others, we tried
a quick exit today instead of the prolonged 20 stay from the
past few days. Alan hugged him, I hugged him, and then I handed
him over to the teacher, who also hugged him. Then we left and
I, once again, cried myself to work. (I’m a big baby) The
teacher called me mid-morning to say that Eve was complaining
of a stomach ache. I recommended pretzels. When in doubt, feed
them, right? :) She also told me that Lex screamed for a few
minutes, but she sat with him and held him snuggly until he
calmed down, then he was great. He stayed close to her all day,
but he joined the group for circle time and did the activities.
When we got there he was sitting on the couch reading a book.
He didn’t even see me come in! A little girl started yelling,
“Lex, Lex! Your mommy is here” I thought that was cute. He
almost cried when he saw me, but not quite. He was happy to
leave, but overall he had a great day. Now we just need to work
on the drop-off process.

One thing I
hadn’t expected from daycare is how much it wears Eve out.
She’s still a little sick, I think, with a runny nose and cough
when she sleeps, but she cries at the end of each day too. She
also comes home and basically sobs off and on until we put her
to bed early, usually in a crying fit. She’s normally pretty
mellow and goes to bed fairly easily, but these past few
daycare days have resulted in difficult bedtimes. I think she’s
just so tired from the whole experience.

We have a really great Yahoo group of parents in the area
and I posted a message yesterday asking for advice on daycare.
Most people said to have consecutive days so the kids get the
hang of the routine better, but one woman said she
intentionally does not do consecutive days because her kids
need a day to rest up after a daycare day. I may end up
switching the kids to T/TH or something because they may also
need a rest day in between. We’ll see. For now we will leave
things as is for a few weeks until everyone is settled (and
M/TH swim lessons are over).

No more
daycare until next week. Hopefully you’ll all survive a few
days without a daycare update :)