Our lovely little 2 year old is constantly surprising me!
Transitioning from one place to another and a surrounding of new people, often leads to a very overwhelmed and quite timid child. M is always clinging to me when we meet new people or travel to a new place. Which is quite understandable at this age. However she is also a very social child and can jump right into a new setting within a few minutes. Just give her that "warm up" time and she is just fine.
Our first childcare placement began when the lil' Miss was just 3 months old. A great friend was able to care for her for the next 5 months of my school year. I am so thankful that we had her because I know she gave our girl that loving care that she needed as an infant! Thank you Mrs. B!
After the first year we switched childcare because we wanted to make sure our good friend could give the proper attention to her own children, her part-time work for the family business, and we honestly wanted to keep a friendship, rather than a business relationship.
So for the past year and a half, we have entrusted the care of our child to a wonderful lady that actually worked at my school when I first began 9 years ago. She decided to begin doing childcare in her home a short time after her youngest son was born. It was wonderful that I knew her on a personal level, so there was no blind meeting. M very easily made the transition to Mrs. K because at the time she was only 11 months old and not in an attachment phase.
Over the course of a year and a half, M became very close with Mrs. K. She was loved by all her family members. They would hold her, play with her, talk with her, and honestly treat her as a member of the family. So as childcare goes, some children left the care of Mrs. K for various reasons. And by mid-January M was the only child she was caring for in her home full time. I loved that she was getting one-on-one care, but I knew that Mrs. K might not continue on with childcare because of numbers. I let Mrs. K know that if she needed to move on to do something else, we understood. As I have always said, your own family comes first.
About three weeks ago, this mama was on a determined search to find new childcare for our little lady because Mrs. K had applied for a job. It was a little stressful there for a week. I was referred to about 4 different in-home childcare people. Three of them were full, but one lady, that at least four people had referred me to, was able to make it work for us to begin coming to her!
You don't want to just send your child to just anyone, but knowing that I had at least four people recommend or refer me to her, I felt way more comfortable. We were able to go and meet with her last Thursday because I wanted to warm M up to a new setting. I was really worried about this change because M had become so attached to Mrs. K. I even had began telling M that we would be going to a new babysitter because Mrs. K had to go to work.
When we met Mrs. B, M was a little timid, which I totally expected. It was the evening and she wanted mama. But after a few minutes the lil' Miss was walking and exploring. She found one of the cats and was in love! This kid has a passion for animals. Oh and M even used the potty when we were there, which was great. Mrs. B couldn't get over that she was potty trained and how well she talked! We sorted out details with Mrs. B and decided that the first Tuesday in February we would be coming to see her.
I feared last Friday because it was our last day with Mrs. K. We said our good-byes and we will definitely be visiting her. And then I feared this past Tuesday because it was our first day at Mrs. B's. In all honesty, I took lil' Miss there and literally she jumped right in to having breakfast with one of the other children. There was no crying or reaching for mommy as I left. Which in a way was sad, but for the most part I was elated! No fear or anxiety from my child of a new situation :)
Here it is Friday and we made it a whole week in a new setting. It ended up that a couple of the mornings she didn't want me to go, but Mrs. B was good about taking her and talking to M and hugging her. When I picked her up in the afternoons, she was happy to see me. There was the asking of milk, but I told her later. For the most part she accepted that response (there may have been a little whining). And today she did not want to leave because she was having so much fun playing!
I think it goes to say, when you doubt that you child will be content in a new surrounding, you need to just give it time. I never would have imagined how smoothly this week would have gone. She did amazingly well and I am so pleased that my daughter has the social skills needed to enter a new environment. She amazes me everyday with how she is growing and the length to which she is learning!
How is this bright, adventurous, comical, apologetic, polite, sweet, kind, loving, friendly, athletic, and charismatic child mine?
I am grateful everyday for my sweet "Rainbow" baby and the love she has brought into my life. She never fails to surprise me.
No comments:
Post a Comment