Leonard at DayCare (part 2)

We had bumpy days-- until I had it all figured out, I didn't start to write this post.

It was February 03-- three weeks after Leonard starts daycare, I found myself feel uncertain about sending Leonard to Daycare.

Almost just a week after his first day, Leonard got his first cold, and we have to visit ER in the middle of the night. Yes, He got a cold, and it happen to be a bad one caused by rotavirus. People asked me if he was sick because he was sent to daycare. I feel the question is silly-- Maybe, who knows?! I even felt a bit angry about this question because it seems implying we should have make him stay at home, and I should be a stay-at-home-mom.

My justification to this is raising a child is not all about his physical need. Leonard is a (semi-)baby right now. As his mom, I get most familiar with his needs and desire because we were almost together 7/24. But when he grows into a child, he will need more guidance about his life. If I myself is not a person of knowledge and of wisdom, how can I provide any guidance to my child? Before I went to work, my daily conversation with M is all about him, largely about his schedule and then about his lunch box-- does he have class/meeting tomorrow? Yes, then I will get his lunch box ready-- oh, he does not like that sandwiches I made the other day, okay, I get something else. I can image this would soon to be my conversation with Leonard if I stayed at home. After we consult with his pediatrician (specialized in neology and child development), we further believe we should sign up with daycare-- to get Leonard more stimulated by outside sources.

Sending our son to daycare does not mean we care less about him. We understand daycare teachers are trained professionals-- they may not love Leonard as much as we did, but they should take a very good care of him. This thought makes the transition go smoothly-- we were not very drama about his first day. However, I do feel very upset when I caught Leonard sitting in the bombo seat with his underwear. This is the second time of the months, I found they misplace his outfits. The first time, I contributed to it because I put these outfits in his bag instead of cabby-- the teachers only looked in his cabby and their storage cabinet, which is somewhat understandable. The second time is really a major mistake-- I brought in two sets of outfits on Tuesday, and on Thursday, he came home with one of them. The following Tuesday is the day I found him having no clothes to wear-- it seems he actually was changed twice on Thursday, but the second set was placed at another baby's bag. The solid outfits was so ruined that we can not save them-- I was mad not only because his outfit was misplace, but also for he is not getting changed on time.

What is most ridiculous is I got a note from the pink sheet: send-in more diapers. I sent in 30-ish diaper at the first day, and another 60 pieces diapers the second week. How can Leonard ran out of some many diapers! Especially, he is not a full-timer!

I did not say anything at daycare at that day, but I was mad. When I went home, I told Annie what happen and I was going to talk to the director of the daycare. She told me I should take it slowly-- talk to the teacher first, if things are not getting better, then bring it up to the ladder. I was still mad-- the next day, I sought advice from coworkers, as they are actually running a school in special education. They and my friends in church told me the same thing-- go talk to the teacher, and then bring it to the admin if things does not get improve.

I decide to follow their advice.

What seems to be odd is that Sunday seems more peaceful than usual-- I got a lot rest, and feel ready to talk to the teacher.

When I went in talk to the teacher, I have a note ready in my pocket. I did not give it to the teacher because I found she already figure out a lot of things-- Leonard has a lot of diapers, no need to send in more. His outfits were misplaced-- they are sorry about that.

At the same day, I also found a note from one of the teacher-- she is leaving. I also knew that another assistant is leaving too. The new lead teacher is just onboard. Maybe these explains the chaos? (One friend makes a comment: that may be the reason, but still is not acceptable-- her standard is high!)

Since then, things start to run smoothly. Leonard came home with the same piece of outfits-- meaning they paid a lot of attention to his activities and changed him on time. His daily schedule starts to consist with his life at home. He is really getting use to daycare!