Another week has passed with Brooklynn back at home, and we’ve done our best to keep things on a similar schedule as when she was at daycare. Sadly, the sleeping through the night seems to have taken a leave of absence, and all of a sudden we have a child who takes naps during the day and wants to play for a while during the wee hours of the morning.
Having a run of four days at daycare was kind of eye opening for me. Yes, we got better at getting Brooklynn’s bags packed up to go, and no, I wasn’t ready for the fact that a human under 20 pounds can need that much stuff. I think she takes more with her leaving the house than I do heading out the door to work, mostly because I am able to use a bathroom and I don’t usually fear that I will throw up on myself and require a change of clothes. I guess I have that going for me.
We’re really happy with where we’re taking her, and considering we didn’t spend the months of pregnancy checking out a million daycare options, we feel pretty fortunate about how it all turned out. We kind of stumbled into it at a Super Bowl party last January and put a check mark next to that to do item. And it worked out.
Jamie, our daycare provider, is pretty flexible on days and time and has a ‘dropping your kids off with a friend’ rather than at an institution feel. She has two kids of her own and a few other kids around. After seeing Grace and Jacoby obsess over the baby, I’m pretty sure Brooklynn isn’t hurting for attention when she is away from us. I don’t think it’s easy leaving your child to spend a big chunk of her day with someone else, but neither Rhiannon nor I are ready to quit our jobs anytime soon, so we do what we can to spend time with her in the evenings and weekends and feel good about knowing she’s in a good home during the day.
In fact, considering that Brooklynn slept through the night every single day we took her to daycare and has only done it a few times since, we’re strongly considering sending her back to daycare early.
(I’m kidding. Maybe.)
(Jamie, what is your secret to get her to sleep? And how do you watch five or six children at once? I can barely handle one, and she doesn’t move on her own yet.)
Plus, I know at Jamie’s, there is usually a camera around somewhere, which should make Brooklynn feel right at home. It’s good to have those small consistencies, like the feeling that paparazzi are following you everywhere. I imagine by the time Brooklynn is five, she’ll expect media coverage of her first day of school.
