Daycare

I have read tons of posts on daycare...the details, the good, the bad..

I can honestly say that our transition to daycare was so smooth it is utterly boring.

His first day, DH took him in. No tears from anybody, and Sweet Boy immediately loved his teachers. This boy loves everybody, he doesnt have stranger anxiety or separation anxiety which has been a huge help in his arena.

His daycare is a French facility....French staff, French literature and notices, French everything. My DH is fully bilingual but they are super accomodating for this Anglophone mother. I do understand some things in French and can communicate un peu (a little) but I'm happy they are so willing to speak English to me. Some of them are *very* French, which may sound weird but it just means that French is their first language and it is obvious that they sometimes struggle to find the English words. All day long Maxim hears French and it is truly amazing what he understands now in both languages!! Its true when they say babies are sponges, it has never been so apparent as now when he is learning and understanding two languages.

There are currently about 10 babies in his room and 4 staff. Most of the babies are over one year old (Many Canadian mothers get one year of mat leave) but there is one or two that are under one year. He'll stay in the baby room until he is 18 months and then move to the toddler room. For the first few days, he didnt eat much. And his naps were wonky but he still napped. After 3 days, he was back into his old routine. He is always in a good mood and always reported to have good days. So far, no major behavior problems or anything which is so reassuring and nice. At least two days a week they have theme days or organized activities. Tomorrow for example is Halloween Day...so he's supposed to wear a costume. Next week there is Wear Pink or Red Day and Eat Ice Cream day, haha....other days they go to the local early years centre, the YMCA for swimming or the park. They take walks in the stroller once or twice a day.

Other than that, not much is really earth shattering about daycare. The cost is like carrying a second mortgage ferchrissakes which is the truly shitty part of it all. We get two hours in the evening with him before he goes to bed which is precious, plus our weekends.

As for me, I feel like I'm a much better mother and more productive person all around now that Im working again. The morning routine was so easy to get into it felt like we were doing it for forever already. I miss the naps I used to take when we were home and there are times when I wish we had the freedom like we did before, but then I also know that it wasnt always a good thing too. Because I know that its good for me and good for him and that he has done well so far, I feel zero guilt about the choice to work and send him to daycare everyday. He loves going and his face lights up every afternoon when we pick him up. As a family we have become healthier all around in the last month and that is truly priceless.