Dude...so, I've started looking into daycare options for Kayla. I'm not planning to enroll her anywhere until fall, but I thought it would be a good idea to at least start researching. Turns out I probably should have started that back when she was but a tiny seed in my belly because the wait-lists around here are incredible!!! I saw that coming, I guess, but I figured that we wouldn't be in any rush to get her in post-birth since I am working from home and am pretty flexible. That said, I had no idea that most of these people started getting their kids on wait-lists 'round about that time that the little dipstick came back with a plus sign in its window. Stupid me for thinking you should at least let the kid grow some appendages before you start enrolling it in daycare.
Another thing I had no idea about - admission processes. That's right, you don't just enroll your kid at some of these places, some of them actually have full admission processes, including interviews. INTERVIEWS...with INFANTS...really?? This is the stuff out of parenting movies where the parents are desperately trying to get their 3-month old to stop drooling and rattle off baby signs at the speed of light so that she can impress a panel of daycare admissions people. Interviews. I mean seriously...what the heck is going to come out of that? They must just pick by cutest baby, right? (It's in the bag, Kayla! It's in the bag!) What else can you possibly derive from an interview with a 2-month old? Does this mean I have to go back to fretting about whether or not Kayla is hitting the "What to Expect" milestones? Will these admissions people be putting her through some kind of test? Are they going to judge her because she still just makes general cooing sounds rather than mixing up vowels and consonants, a la "Ah-goo" that the books keep mentioning? Will they be unimpressed by the fact that she doesn't always smile on cue and can only whack at the toys that hang in front of her rather than grabbing them? Lord have mercy...maybe I should get her some glasses pre-interview...give her that "air of intelligence". Not that I doubt your smarts, Kayla. I watched you reach out and whack that little purple elephant toy over and over again this morning and I was darned impressed. You are one smart cookie. But what if there are more smart cookies out there? I just think the glasses might give us an edge, that's all.
I am half excited and half dreading putting her in daycare. One part of me is sad to think that there would be days where her little mushy face wouldn't be right there beside me anytime I wanted to lean over and kiss it. That part of me is also not thrilled with the idea of putting her in a place where she'll be surrounded by little germ monsters (ie other kids) who will expose her to all kinds of nasty bugs which will, no doubt, make both her and our lives miserable at times. Another part of me though is kind of selfishly excited about the idea of having a few days a week to myself. That part of me realizes that I might actually be able to get some work done on those days. It dreams of getting to run all those errands that tend to pile up. It also realizes that those days would be fantastic opportunities for me to get in long workouts at the gym, trips to the salon, or just quiet reading and relaxation time in the park. That part of me can't help it...It kind of wants to start part-time daycare asap. Of course, both those parts are just going to have to agree to disagree and, regardless, they are not in control of when Kayla starts daycare. The Man is in charge of that and the Man says we first need to figure out a way to stand out amongst the zillion other overachieving 2 month olds on the wait-list. Kayla, say "So very nice to meet you, Admissions Officers." Now, en Francais.
No comments:
Post a Comment