However, this means that my two little guys have started going to daycare twice a week. I was quite worried about how Finn would cope - such a mumma's boy that one. We have a great routine now at home with almost no fuss from him at all and a perfect nap/sleep routine - I just give him his dummy, tell him to say goodnight (he then waves his perfect little chubby hand at me and I start to tear up at how beautiful it is - I'm such a softy) and put him in his cot, walk away & shut the door. He then lies there silently and goes straight to sleep. (I think he's making up for the first 6 months when he was an absolute terror... lol). He sleeps for around 3 hours before lunch and another hour or so in the afternoon - fantastic! However, if we are out and he is away from his own bed & around other people, things are not so fantastic. So I was worried about how he would cope trying to share a bedroom with 7 other bubs and without his mummy on hand for constant cuddles.....
Surprisingly Finn loves daycare! He loves the playtime, eats like an elephant (amazing for such a little fella who eats tiny amounts at home) and follows his home sleep patterns perfectly! The ladies at the centre love him - they tell me he is the happiest, most placid and easy baby they have there. He still loves his cuddles (which the ladies love too) but is rarely upset and has just come out of his shell amazingly. So I was a little amazed but very proud of my little guy.
Levi is a different story. He was the one I was sure would do really well at kindy. He is so active & intelligent and I thought all the extra stimulation, the other kids to play with and the learning opportunities would be great for him. But to my surprise, he is the one struggling to cope without me there. The first day I dropped him off and he happily started playing so I drove to work. Just as I pulled in to the driveway at work I got a call to say he was really upset & not coping. So of course I burst into tears thinking about my little boy wanting me & I wasn't there. Way to make a professional impression on the first day at a new job hey? This continued throughout the day as I called a couple of times to see how they were doing & got similar reports & had similar breakdowns. I finally left work an hour or two early to pick them up and Levi burst into tears when he saw us there to collect him.
Day 2 was even harder - I dropped them off and Levi started crying immediately as he remembered that we were going to go & leave him there. Walking away from him while he was crying and calling out mummy was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. Again, similar reports throughout the day and when we came to pick the boys up they were outside, Levi was staying next to the little fenced off area for the littlies where Finn was playing instead of playing with the older kids - it was very sweet to see them both sitting near the fence so that they could be together, but again he burst into tears when he saw us & grabbed us straight away & didn't let go. We did manage to get him to show us some of the toys & things he played with during the day and he cheered up a little and admitted that he did actually like going to kindy. He very proudly showed us the little bathroom they had with all the tiny little toilets & sinks and gave us a demonstration of how he could do it all by himself even washing his hands using the soap, the little tap and the paper towels all on his own - so cute!
I think he is starting to settle in a bit now, just crying more for our benefit and occasionlly looking for us when he gets sad but once he gets going I think he'll love all the excitement. And I am much better equipped to handle my own separation anxiety now - I have photos of my boys on my desk, hot chocolate supplies stashed in the kitchen and each day I head to work with some cookies in my bag for those moments I need a little something to cheer me up.
Here are some pics of us on our historic first day of work & kindy - the boys have their little backpacks all packed & both bags were heavier than the boys themselves.
2 comments:
Hey Liz, Don't worry about Levi, its perfectly natural that he is upset - I think because he is that little bit older and can understand more. Marcella used to be great at going but for the last 6 weeks or so, not so great. I tried this on Friday and it worked fantastic; sang Twinkle Twinkle about 20 times in the car and tickled her from the car park until we found her something to do in her room. She was laughing so I quickly got up and left. The other trick is, Damien drops her off and she is no where near upset. Its mainly for my benefit that she cries and boy do I feel like crap when she does. So you are not alone, he will get there.
I am so proud of you. Go Liz! I know it must be really heartbreaking. Hannah goes to childcare one day a week and I really can't stand leaving her. It helps if Craig can drop her off but that isn't always the case. Thankfully she has been fine, I am the only one who gets upset and cries! (I am going to go with the pregnancy hormones excuse...).
Would love to hear more about your new job!
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