Day Care Day 1 = Success!

Whew!

What a load off. Ada started day care today and the transition could not have been smoother. I've been a little nervous since she really liked being with Will and Alison these past few months. And I'll admit that, even though I mentioned to Rick that we should take the umbrella stroller, I still forgot and the walk is 2 blocks father than she is used to. Luckily we were able to distract her with puppy dogs and a round of the ABCs.

Once we arrived at the daycare, Ada was ready to start her day and absorb all of the new experiences. We were there maybe five minutes, likely less, when she ran off to play and left us to do our thing. We had enough time to take off her coat, hang it up, sign her in, see her new classroom, and walk her into the morning gathering room. That's when she ran toward the other kids and Rick and I decided it was best to just let her play instead of doing a long drawn out goodbye. Then we left. On the sidewalk, I almost teared up, but then I reminded myself that I was just so darn happy that she seemed happy and this might work out after all. AHHH!

Then I walked to the corner and thought I was going to miss the bus that would take me to the el but as it turns out, the stop is about half a block from the corner and there was a long line of people waiting to board the bus. Yeah! A quick kiss to Rick and off on our separate ways we go.

I admit that I thought about her at 2 and hoped she was taking a nap and ate her lunch. And that was it. I really didn't worry about her because she is so outgoing that she really thrives in that environment. When I went to pick her up, she was in the back with the "leftover" kids as I call them -- they consolidate the rooms after 5pm once the parents start to pick them up and the numbers dwindle. I headed back to see her and got a glowing review from the staff. They were very impressed that she joined in the circle for story time and acted like she's been there all along. They noted how surprised they were that she knew how to say "No, no, no," and wag her finger when "the Dr. says, 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed!". And she participated during the itsy bitsy spider too. I wonder where she gets her extroverted nature? Couldn't possibly be from me...

And the biggest shocker was that they were able to get her hair up into a half ponytail. Amazing. She will barely let me touch her hair let alone put it up for her. I got it into a full ponytail this morning but she was not happy about it and let me know it.

So the day was a great success. Yippee!

The walk home on the other hand... let's just say it was slow going, she looked like she was drunk at times the way she staggered and stumbled (I think she's exhausted from having too much fun all day) and, I ended up having to carry her two blocks when I ran out of milestones for her to walk to (like dogs being walked up ahead, kitties in store windows, etc.). She gave up completely when the electronics store down the street had Finding Nemo playing on the plasma screen. Insta-zombie. And then she saw kids with balloons coming out of the playgroup next to our house and just lost it. Ba-loo, Ba-loo. We walked over to see the balloons but they were all tangled and the mom couldn't stop to give her one since it was cold out and she was trying to get her 2 and 4-year-olds to the car after a birthday party. I didn't blame her at all. And once we got inside, Ada was just fine -- after she ate her second full banana of the day that is. And you won't be shocked to know that I quickly popped in cartoons for her to unwind after a long day. She'll get used to it and then her days with me are going to be so boring.

Moral of the story: You just have to go with the flow of things. Try to make transitions as easy as possible. Talk to your child beforehand to let them know what's going on and hope for the best.