This month marks one year since Sloane started daycare. First off, I can’t believe it’s already been a year. It feels like a lifetime ago, but also feels like yesterday all at the same time. I know a lot of families and working moms send their kids off to daycare. But it’s usually never an easy decision to leave your kids with strangers for eight hours or more a day. I wrote about our first month of daycare in this post here. And while it has been hard, we have seen her blossom in so many amazing ways.
First off, we love our daycare. The teachers are so nice there. Everyone knows Sloane and says hi to her when she walks thru the door. She always gets a bit smile on her face when I take her out of her car seat and we walk into school. I have to assume that means she loves it! The teachers are all welcoming and nice. And whenever there has been an issue, it has been addressed immediately. We have been so lucky to have found such a wonderful place and have had a great experience.
I love that ours has an app with a live camera feed so I can check in on her throughout the day. I try not to do this too much because sometimes it gives me a little anxiety when I don’t see her on the camera for whatever reason. Sometimes there are dead spots where the kids can be but there is no camera footage or she’s getting her diaper changed. But to be looking for your kid and they aren’t there is not really that easy! So I try to limit this during the day. It’s fun to see pictures throughout the day that the teachers send, what songs and books they are reading, etc.
Looking back on the last year was a difficult one in terms of sickness. We had a lot of sick days! Both Sloane being sick and then Kurt and I getting sick after that. Catching whatever bugs Sloane brings home! It’s never easy to try and work, get housework done, tend to our animals and a sick child all while you yourself are sick! I know that this isn’t the last of us all being sick. And there will be many other sick times. But from what I’ve been told, the first year is always the worst. So happy to have that in the past!
Sloane has grown so much over this past year. And I have to attribute a lot of that growth to her school. Currently she is talking up a storm and will randomly say words. And I’m like where did you learn that?! It has to be from school! We sing songs and she knows them all from singing them at school.
It is really hard not being with your child for eight hours (or more) five days a week. But I would not change a thing. I love being able to work and getting to concentrate on other things besides raising my child. I love the partnership we have with her daycare. They have taught her so much more than I ever could have on my own. I feel confident that it is the right place for her to be and we made the right decision.
I know this decision is not always the easiest for parents, so I wanted to share my story because we have had a really positive experience. It is hard to know if you are making the right decision when they are so little, but trust your gut and go for it. You will look back and realize what a great opportunity you have given to your child! Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I leave in tears because she is grabbing at my legs and won’t let me go. But I know she loves it there! And it’s the best for her.
xoxox Amanda
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