Day Care Drama – Good Cop, Bad Cop?

Ada seems to still be doing well at day care. Now that she isn’t crying every time we drop her off, we’ve noticed that she has picked favorites from her staff of care providers. Monica is her clear choice as Ada lights up, jumps from her stroller and runs toward her in the morning for the biggest of hugs. That makes me feel great. That isn’t something a two-year-old can fake either.

On the other hand when anyone else answers the door, Ada isn’t nearly as excited. She either quietly follows me into the building or cries the whole way if she sees her other care givers. When I asked Monica if it was a good cop, bad cop routine she just said they have different styles and the other care giver is more old school and strict. I’m a bit surprised to see that they don’t have similar styles of discipline across the board at the day care. Obviously there are many styles that work and some kids respond better to various techniques. Since Monica is headed for vacation next week, I think Rick and I need to politely pose the question of how their styles differ, how they think Ada is adjusting, and see what we can do to get Ada to like both “cops”. I’m not excited that she appears to fear or avoid one of her primary care givers. It is comforting to know she really likes the other one, but I’d be happier if we can balance that out a bit more. We’ll see how it goes.

Moral of the story: Day care is never a “set it and forget it” situation. Constant surveillance and monitoring of your child’s situation is a must and never easy.