Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Change, Change, Change

Back when we were in Disneyland, we found out that our nanny would be leaving us a mere 2 weeks later. It was heartbreaking! She had been with us for over two years and was the only care taker that Natalie remembered and Philip had ever known. Once we returned from Disney, Phil and I debated finding another nanny, but we didn't feel we would have enough time to properly search for and interview then hire with less than two weeks to go. Also, to complicate matters, I would be leaving for a week trip that would last for 3 days of our last week with the current nanny. To say this was a stressful time would be a huge understatement. I think the fact that I'm only able to write about the experience is because I'm still traumatized!

I did a few searches online for a nanny, sent a desperate-sounding email out to every contact in my email contacts list asking for any referrals for care takers, then I decided to call the Montessori school we had toured two years prior when we were in a very similar situation. My some miracle, they had opened up an 18-24 month class within in the last year and had one opening and on top of that, they had a kid who had just moved out of state, opening up a spot in the 3-4 year classroom. It was decided that we would snatch up these two spots, having Natalie start the Monday after our nanny left and Philip would start a month later. We were able to find a temporary sitter for Philip for the 4 weeks between our old nanny leaving and his first day of school. To top off our luck, all my work trips were put on hold due to a travel ban - which was a real miracle, because there were a few planned and it would have left Phil home with the kids during this tumultuous time.

So, change is hard, hard on mommy especially! It has been painful leaving the kids at school. I was so accustomed to having them home, and even though I work full time, it was always nice to be able to check on them throughout the day - sort of the best of both worlds. Natalie hasn't loved every minute of school, there have been some very hard drop offs and long days. There is a schedule they follow in their classes and by the second day of class Natalie had it figured out and what that meant was she didn't want to go out to recess, because after recess there was lunch and she for sure wasn't going to eat her lunch because that meant she would have to take a nap and she wasn't going to do that! She had some long days of no eating, very rough naps and tears. She also figured out very quickly the route we would drive to get to school and would ask us not to turn here or get on that road because she knew they led to school. It was rough. She is gradually coming around, not all drop offs are hard, she is having more fun, she started eating her lunch (most days) and doesn't beg us not to drive her to school. Although, she LOVES Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday because it means NO school.

Philip has adjusted a little better. He hasn't had as many rough drop offs, loves his teacher and she loves him. He is also becoming more of a little man, he loves feeding himself, sitting up to the table, telling us what to do and when to do it. Changes in our child care situation means changes in our kids.