Today was Conner's first day in "baby" school. I like to call it that rather than daycare cause in my opinion, "daycare" doesn't have the best reputation. It's amazing the number of moms out there that prejudge you when they find out that you're working outside of the home - and dare not say the word, daycare! :( I've been on both sides, and I can honestly say that I'm a VERY neutral party when it comes to stay-at-home moms verse working moms. Every family and situation is different, and how dare us label and point fingers at one another for the decisions they make for themselves. The truth is staying at home doesn't magically make you a better mom...it's what you do during the time you're with your child that counts. AND, I have to say...I'm pretty darn good at that part! :) As you can see, I'm still finding it hard not to explain or defend my reasons (which there are many - it's more than a financial decision for our family) for going back to work. This is so not what I intended to do, but I have complete peace knowing that the Lord reopened the door of teaching to me. Well, this week proves ALL THE MORE that the LORD'S hand is completely over the situation....HE backs us up, and that's all that matters, folks!!! :)
Last Thursday night was Open House, which turned out to be GREAT! :) After Open House, Sarah and Andrew came over to inform us that Sarah got a job and would start the following Monday. (today...YIKES!) Talk about pressure!! She feels so bad about it. UMC would not accept her due to her lack of experience, so clearly, she had to go in this direction...I don't blame her a bit and would never be mad at her. She was helping us out BIG TIME!! Well, the next day was our first full day at school, so I decided to push back the issue and focus on one big thing at a time. I prayed that the Lord would provide a place for Conner where he could flourish and be loved! Plus, in the back of my mind, I had preconceived notions about him going to a certain place..Mrs. Donna's house! :) Anyway, on the way home on Friday, I called Mrs. Donna to see if she had an opening - she didn't!! :( By this time it was 4:ooPM and we had NO clue where Conner was going to go on MONDAY MORNING!! I called a few more places that I had heard of, but no such luck. The tears began to come at this point, and I trying to figure out how I was gonna convince David into missing work on Monday. Yeah, right!!
Finally, I called this one place that 3 of my friends had recommended and they had ONE opening for Conner's age. So, I asked the lady,"What if we were to come up there before y'all closed, sign some papers to register our son, could he begin on Monday?" The answer was YES! :) YAY!!!...or so I thought. When I asked what I needed to bring, she said, "All you have to bring is the immunization records." Crud!!! When the doctor gave me the 121 form, I remember thinking...Kindergarten is forever away and he'll never go to daycare. Who knows where I had placed it!! I tried to call the doctor to fax it, but they had already closed for the day. I was panicking to say the least and had torn apart the laundry room in search of the form. David got home and helped me look. He looked in the extra walk-in-closet, found a form labeled- "Conner's Important Things", and it was on the very top. David chuckled and said, "Shelley, you're the most organized person I know, and you didn't look in the file?" Ooops...I was freaking out at the time and couldn't really think straight! I really don't even remember putting it there...I like to think that the Lord placed it right where it needed to be so we would find it. By this time, it was 5:15PM and they closed at 6:00PM. We raced over to the facility and the rest was pretty simple...got some information, looked around, and had TOTAL peace about it!!!
The biggest worry in my mind was how Conner would handle dropping a nap and sleeping on a COT! Well, today I called from the school to see how things were going and I talked to Conner's teacher, Mrs. Sue. She started off saying that Conner was doing exceptionally well and that they thought he must have been in a daycare before. (that's my baby!!) PLUS, at that very moment, the child was sleeping on a COT! What? All I can say is...WOW, I'm impressed! :) It did take him a while to work it out and go to sleep, but he ended up taking a good nap and that's a great start. He'll get more and more used to it as time goes by. In fact, I'm thinking this is gonna help us in the long run with the transition to a toddler bed, plus, they'll probably help with the potty training too! Can we get an AMEN!!!!
When I picked him up, Mrs. Ashley confirmed how great he did and gave me this little slip called a Cuddle Gram that had all the important information of the day. (what he ate, nap time, changes, etc.) It ended with a checklist that said, TODAY I WAS...happy!!!!! (vs. sleepy/fussy/other - but I do realize that from time to time those will be marked) However, for this to be Conner's first experience with daycare and to have only one short nap, I'm extremely proud of him!! The lady said that they will send home all the stuff they do throughout the week on Friday---I'm already thinkin' artwork on the fridge time!! Hahaha! :) He's about to bloom right before our eyes...talk about growing up fast, I'm afraid things are definitely not slowing down now. I'm okay with that though, God has great things in store for Conner, and part of him becoming what HE has intended for him to be means he needs to sprout "BABY" wings and experience new surroundings/people. I absolutely LOVE watching him learn and grow. He's a sponge and is soaking it all up!!!!
After I picked him up, we went to Wal-mart, came home to play a bit while I prepared supper, fed Conner, gave him a bath, and he was in bed by 7:15PM. (Conked OUT!!!)
As I write this, I am flooded by a sense of relief and complete gratitude for the Lord's hand on all of this! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and once again, GREAT day in the classroom too... everything is going to be A-OKAY!
Ahhh, sigh!
