For six weeks I’ve been doing part-time Daddy Daycare (two days a week), and so far it hasn’t been horrible. We have good days together and we have less good ones, but overall, she doesn’t hate me.
Still, on the days when I drop her off at daycare, she is rarely sad to see me leave her. She sees other parents drop off children, and watch those kids break into relentless tears as those parents flee to their jobs with broken hearts.
CJ? She looks at those crying children, looks at me, looks back at them, and almost shrugs. She has never shed a tear when I have dropped her off at daycare. Rather, she looks at me as if to say, “Oh, hey, you’re leaving? You can find your own way out, right?”
This morning, she waved at me gleefully as I left.
And no wonder. Look at the picture above, taken by her daycare teacher. She loves it there.
Daddy Daycare, on the other hand, is a bore. We shop for groceries, take the dog for a walk, have breakfast with friends, visit the park, and go to coffee shops to play with other kids. She’s 9 months old and already over-scheduled.
November 17, 2007 at 6:35 am |
Well Jonathon, I used to think like you: “My son loves daycare! He’s so cheerful and happy when I drop him off. Not like those other kids!” And then … he turned 2. Actually, it started in advance of two, when he started to cling to me when I put him down in Melissa’s kitchen. Then, one morning a few months ago, he first verbalized it: “Mommy, stay home with me!” UGH! Now it’s quite typical for him to cry when I kneel down to kiss him goodbye. It’s normal, I’m sure, for kids to experience these growing pains. Hopefully it won’t be too traumatic when it happens to you!
November 17, 2007 at 6:36 am |
I should note that it’s apparently just “the break” that upsets him. Usually he perks up and has fun the rest of the day.