Eli had his gym class this morning, after which we went to his soon-to-be-preschool to fill out some paperwork, securing his position for the fall. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this new phase in Eli's life. The church has classrooms full of artwork and creativity, and the teachers and staff that I've met so far are unbelievably sincere and easy-going. Their 'curriculum' for 2-year-olds seems to be 100% lined up with what I want out of this experience (for Eli): focus on social skills, following simple directions, HAVING FUN... We entered the building today and before we were even down the hall the director heard us and came out of her office to meet us halfway. She kept gushing over Eli (in a very sincere way) and saying how excited she was that we were going to be joining their program this fall. And Eli was so interested in the wall murals and classrooms he saw! This warmed my heart..
I've been very blessed in that I've not had to put Eli in someone else's care each day. So any time I've put Eli in any type of 'daycare' situation, I've hesitated. I took quite a while figuring out if I should or should not use Mothers Morning Out, and then once I decided to go for it, I searched out and called numerous churches before I finally found the one we're using now. (I got the same feeling there that I'm feeling now: the workers genuinely care and they are not just there to baby-sit.) When I tried to work gym and yoga visits in during the week, I took Eli to the gym daycare, but never went back because it just didn't feel right. And in the last month as I've been researching pre-schools, I've had conflicting emotions the whole time. Am I just doing this so I can have some alone time with the baby? Will this really benefit Eli? Will he be OK in this new setting? (Honestly, the guilt mothers put themselves through is quite pathetic, isn't it?) After finding this school and meeting the people working there I can truthfully say I have no doubts about how much this will compliment Eli's current situation.
3 comments:
I'm so glad you found a program you like!!! It is ridiculous the grief we put ourselves through, and I think at two ALL children should be put in a social setting. I think Eli will have a blast, and he'll learn things you never considered teaching him.
We missed the cutoff for our summer MMO program, and someone suggested I send Ian somewhere else for the three weeks. I don't know what they're smoking, but there are some children out there who just DON'T adjust in three weeks (at two days a week), and my kid is one of them. So, even though it would be best for me and easier for me to send him somewhere else, chances are he'll be home with me instead, because I'm not comfortable just leaving him anywhere either.
Love the 'do!!
One thing that we found helpful when Pace arrived was to make sure that each of us spent time with Ryan alone while Pace was awake. This helped make Ryan not feel left out and also gave one parent good time with the baby and one good time with Ryan. It will be hard between you and Eli especially since you will be doing the feeding and that time can be seen as a "eli left out momment" in his mind. But, all in all he will adjust just fine!
Glad you found a good program. We are having a hard time finding one here!
Nicole - since you will be in the same situation I was, here is some advice to help. What "Jeremy & Heather" said was right - take turns with one-on-one time with each child. It will help Eli adjust. When it's just the three of you at home, give Eli little tasks to help with the baby (help with diapering, etc) and tell him what a good helper / big brother he is and that the baby loves his brother. Also, Brandon LOVED bottle feeding Jake, so I would pump a bottle so both Michael and Brandon could help feed him. It helped a lot!! - Courtney
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