DEAN and DAYCARE
dean has been use to a routine of spending his days with Mayra
a friendly latina woman who we share as a nanny with a family in Adams Morgan
she has been plagued with a variety of illnesses over the past two years
as it turns out she had to get some tumors removed
thus causing us to find a substitue child care situation in her absence
the beautiful old stucko building just blocks from our house is a daycare center called Rosemount
we were lucky enough to get placement for two weeks
the transition has been hard for him
Dean and I slept late this am
Almost till 8am
Which was good, as I did not go to bed until after midnight
And when I tried to go to bed I found that my spot had been occupied by Dean and the dogs (85 pound Roscoe and 60 pound Brutus)
As Dean has been having unconsoleable bad dreams I thought it best for him to be close by mommy
(apparently fears of school and being left their alone)
The couch would suit me fine
It is not the first time I have slept on the couch
And clearly not the last
When he got up he was in a mixture of moods
He did not want to change his clothes
At times changing him is like bathing a cat
He scrambled away at each opportunity, but not in a fun "chase me daddy" sort of way
Guess the comfort of the PJs was better than the symbolic transition of day clothes and heading off to school
But I managed
Had to do it in stages
He seemed to know he was going to school and did not seem to mind
Things he said gave me the notion that he was more prepared
He wanted to bring his blanket and fire (pacifier)
That was not an option, blanket stays at home and the pacifier is supposed to be for sleeping
Even upstairs he said he wanted to bring his backpack as if in anticipation of heading off to school
I gave him his garbage truck to take to school (daycare) and planned on adding a few more toys to the pack before we left
He was in a good mood
He wanted to go
We suited him up for the cold weather
And headed out the door
I put him on my shoulders and handed him a half peeled banana
We marched towards Rosemount
He thought we were going hiking, I know this because he kept saying..."we are going hiking."
We took the route through the tree tunnel, he told me that he did not have keys as we passed a door locked with a padlock
And then as we exited the tree tunnel and stepped on the sidewalk he said, "we are not going hiking."
Our trip through the woods of Rock Creek only scratched the perimeter
He was right
We were headed to Rosemount to take him to school
He was fine
Said he did not want to go to art class, but without panic or tears
But we marched furhter
He did not cry till we hit the steps
I lowered him to a doorway level and we walked in
He was in tears, face all red, and head tilted back
That is the routine each day as we enter Rosemount
Everyone greeted him by name, the woman at the front desk and even the janitor
We entered the classroom and he clung to me like a little Koala Bear
I could almost not pry him free
With some force I had him off me and was taking off his backpack so I could take off his jacket
He fought me to a certain extent, but swapped hands with the banana to accommodate me at the same time
Once the jacket was off the backpack went back on
He was only crying slightly
The one word zombies each approached one by one to inspect the blonde boy with the teary eyes
Since he was not crying significantly I made my stay brief
I gave him kisses and hugs hopeing that they would stick with him for the duration of the day
Then left out the door
He was not crying
Today, day three at day care was a better day for Dean
I have been handling drop off and Lisa has been handling pick up
Apparently pickup is even more traumatic, as he is one of the last children to be picked up
dean has been use to a routine of spending his days with Mayra
a friendly latina woman who we share as a nanny with a family in Adams Morgan
she has been plagued with a variety of illnesses over the past two years
as it turns out she had to get some tumors removed
thus causing us to find a substitue child care situation in her absence
the beautiful old stucko building just blocks from our house is a daycare center called Rosemount
we were lucky enough to get placement for two weeks
the transition has been hard for him
Dean and I slept late this am
Almost till 8am
Which was good, as I did not go to bed until after midnight
And when I tried to go to bed I found that my spot had been occupied by Dean and the dogs (85 pound Roscoe and 60 pound Brutus)
As Dean has been having unconsoleable bad dreams I thought it best for him to be close by mommy
(apparently fears of school and being left their alone)
The couch would suit me fine
It is not the first time I have slept on the couch
And clearly not the last
When he got up he was in a mixture of moods
He did not want to change his clothes
At times changing him is like bathing a cat
He scrambled away at each opportunity, but not in a fun "chase me daddy" sort of way
Guess the comfort of the PJs was better than the symbolic transition of day clothes and heading off to school
But I managed
Had to do it in stages
He seemed to know he was going to school and did not seem to mind
Things he said gave me the notion that he was more prepared
He wanted to bring his blanket and fire (pacifier)
That was not an option, blanket stays at home and the pacifier is supposed to be for sleeping
Even upstairs he said he wanted to bring his backpack as if in anticipation of heading off to school
I gave him his garbage truck to take to school (daycare) and planned on adding a few more toys to the pack before we left
He was in a good mood
He wanted to go
We suited him up for the cold weather
And headed out the door
I put him on my shoulders and handed him a half peeled banana
We marched towards Rosemount
He thought we were going hiking, I know this because he kept saying..."we are going hiking."
We took the route through the tree tunnel, he told me that he did not have keys as we passed a door locked with a padlock
And then as we exited the tree tunnel and stepped on the sidewalk he said, "we are not going hiking."
Our trip through the woods of Rock Creek only scratched the perimeter
He was right
We were headed to Rosemount to take him to school
He was fine
Said he did not want to go to art class, but without panic or tears
But we marched furhter
He did not cry till we hit the steps
I lowered him to a doorway level and we walked in
He was in tears, face all red, and head tilted back
That is the routine each day as we enter Rosemount
Everyone greeted him by name, the woman at the front desk and even the janitor
We entered the classroom and he clung to me like a little Koala Bear
I could almost not pry him free
With some force I had him off me and was taking off his backpack so I could take off his jacket
He fought me to a certain extent, but swapped hands with the banana to accommodate me at the same time
Once the jacket was off the backpack went back on
He was only crying slightly
The one word zombies each approached one by one to inspect the blonde boy with the teary eyes
Since he was not crying significantly I made my stay brief
I gave him kisses and hugs hopeing that they would stick with him for the duration of the day
Then left out the door
He was not crying
Today, day three at day care was a better day for Dean
I have been handling drop off and Lisa has been handling pick up
Apparently pickup is even more traumatic, as he is one of the last children to be picked up