Daycare

Well, we are in our fourth week of me being back at work, the big kids being back at daycare before/after school, and James being in full-time daycare. The first week was rough. James was so tired from playing busily all day with other kids (his teachers comment that he’s always on the go)! Before I went back to work, when we got home in the afternoons, the first thing we did was snacks. So now, at 5:00 when we get home, I’m preparing supper, but James wants a snack! He’d get really fussy and even mad or throw a little tantrum when he didn’t get one. At the same time, the big kids are trying to work on their reading homework. Not too easy to concentrate on sounding out words when your little brother is screaming! But we got through the first week OK, and James has been better the last couple weeks. Now that we’re in week 4, it’s pretty routine for all of us again.

James is really enjoying daycare. When I drop him off in the morning, we hug the big kids first, as their bus for school leaves right away. Then I take him into his room, hang up his coat and give him his hug/kisses. His 2-year-old classmates are in the 3-year-olds’ room for about a half-hour until enough are there to split, so when I walk him into the 3-year-olds’ room, he says hi to his teacher and friends and doesn’t look back. Only once has he been a little clingy in the morning, but when his teacher took him from me he didn’t cry, and waved “bye-bye” as I went out the door. It makes it so much easier that he enjoys daycare and doesn’t cry when I leave him there.

I haven’t really heard any issues with daycare. It sounded like it took him a few days to learn the routines and to participate in the little activities they do – especially the group sit-down time. He was too busy exploring all the new toys to sit down and listen to a book the first couple days. But otherwise, he does great with lunch, activity time, puzzles, playtime. He is learning to walk instead of run with his classmates, which I understand is a common reminder that’s given in his class, especially with the boys. Also, the first day or two at naptime, he got up from his cot a couple times, but knows that routine now as well. When I arrive to pick him up in the afternoon, he asks me, “Ann ale?” (Let’s go?) I respond yes, and off he goes to get his coat, telling his teachers and friends, “Bye-bye” on the way out the door.

When we get home from daycare, around 5:00, I tend to have the older kids sit down and do their homework/reading. Elijah and Josephine read/practice their book on their own for a bit while James tells me all about his day (in Creole – really funny!). Since Elijah and Josephine have to be listened to, I sometimes have them read in the kitchen one-at-a-time while I’m fixing supper, while the other plays with James to keep him occupied. Kaylen usually reads a half-hour each day after school, and sometimes has a math worksheet to complete, so she usually keeps busy until supper.

When I was home, we usually did snacks then the same homework routine as above, but it wasn’t near as rushed, as we were home from school around 3:15. We usually had homework done and dinner ready by the time Jock got home from work around 5:15. And sometimes we also had a few small chores (laundry, dishes, cleaning) done in that time as well. This made the rest of the evenings much more relaxing. I’m really missing that relaxation/play time with the kids in the evenings. Now it’s filled with rushing to finish homework, dinner/dishes, and showers in the evenings. Chores, except for dishes, usually have to wait for the weekend.

Our evenings have always been like this, though – a mad rush to get things accomplished before bedtime. The kids go to bed between 7:30 and 8 (unless we have an activity that goes later), because we have to be up around 6 to get out the door by 7. It just seems much more cumbersome now. I’m not sure if it’s really that big of a change going from 3-4 kids, but probably just that it’s more noticeable now that I’ve spent time as a stay-at-home mom for a short period of time. Honestly, I’d LOVE to change to a part-time work schedule, but I don’t think that’s in the cards – at least for now.