New beginnings lead to sad endings…

Leaving your child with strangers is one of the most vulnerable feelings. After my maternity leave with Drew, we started taking him to the JCC a couple of days a week for daycare. At first I called once in the morning and once in the afternoon for updates. As time went by, I reduced my calls to only once a day. Eventually I stopped calling and waited for end of the day statuses.

Leaving him was one of the hardest things I ever had to do but with time it only got easier. As an infant, we didn’t see much value in him being there. They were good babysitters and allowed us the opportunity to go to work. As a toddler, we have seen tremendous growth. He has friends, a large vocabulary and independence. It’s been especially good for him to have the organized schedule and activities.

With the upcoming expansion of our family, we have had to evaluate our daycare circumstances. After networking and researching, we found another local daycare (very similar to our current daycare) that is significantly less money. And although there is no price tag for our son’s happiness and our comfort, we are most likely going to switch Drew.

The new place is very comparable, comes with great recommendation from friends and family and makes sense for our circumstance. The thought, however, of starting over is petrifying. We pull up to Drew’s current school and he recognizes the building, says hello to the receptionist, every teacher knows him by name and he hugs all the kids. Drew is very outgoing and warm and I have every bit of confidence that soon he will rule this school. I just don’t know how I will handle the change.

Will I regress to my twice a day phone calls? Will I resort to tears after every drop off? How do I let this place provide me the comfort and ease that the JCC once had? With time will I come to love the teachers as much as I love Miss Michele, Miss Vicki and Miss Julie? Who will have the harder time transitioning – the baby or the mommy?