Adventures in Day Care

Oh goodness. People do this all the time. I keep telling myself that he will be perfectly fine. Thousands of kids go to daycare everyday. Thousands of mothers trust thousands of professionally trained, well-qualified people to watch their children everyday. It's still a big step for us. My husband has been blessed with finding a great job. While this means finally attaining financial stability, I can't help but feel a little guilty that we'll be leaving little man in the hands of strangers. Okay, they aren't complete strangers; I mean we did shop around for a child care we were comfortable with. The first place we saw was near home. It seemed okay at first, but upon visiting places closer to work, it the first looked dingy, dirty and definately not as friendly. The second place we visited was closer to my job. All and all, it was an okay daycare, and we probably could have been very happy there. The big down side: age restrictions. Due to corporate regulations, little man would have been placed in the infant room. We looked at those other infants in the infant room. Some were barely sitting up. Then there's little man, the bull in the china shop, curiously running from station to station. He was much more suited to the toddler room, but wouldn't be permitted there until he was 18 months to the day.This obviously wasn't an ideal fit. Final stop, a religiously sponsored day care on the campus of my school. All the parents and children we saw were so happy. Even though it was the end of a long day, the teachers still seemed very positive and upbeat. Sure we asked the obligatory questions, but more than anything, it felt very homelike. Peanut seemed to really fit in. So I know he'll be safe. I know he will have tons of fun playing with the other kids. And I'm hoping that he'll be glad to see me right after work. I don't understand why I then feel so anxious about his first day. I think I hope the teachers see him for the very brilliant little guy he is, and not the very super active mister doesn't-sit-still that someone who doesn't love him like we do might see. I hope he doesn't break anything, or hurt anyone. I hope he doesn't become too clingy or miss us too much. People do this everyday. He'll be fine. I'll be fine. It will all be okay. Wish us luck!