First Day at Daycare

October 29, 2014 by lilpolcari 1 Comment

On the topic of firsts, I have not and will not forget that very first day I dropped off my one year-old daughter at daycare.  She was a late walker so was not yet walking on her day at daycare.  All the daycare workers warned me that there would be lots of tears but shortly after I’d leave, she’d stop crying.  Well stop crying she did not, what seemed like an eternity while I was signing paperwork, I just heard my daughter wailing.  Naturally I was concerned, but the caregivers at the daycare just took it in stride that our experience was no different that any other family dropping off their child for the first time.  And I was kindly asked to leave.

It so it went on for several weeks that my daughter cried everyday at drop off.  Then all the positive stuff that comes out of daycare started to come alive.   She became more independent, before she was two years old, she knew how to put on her own winter coat and boots.  To put in perspective, my 4-year-old, who never went to daycare still struggles.

As a first time mom, anything new seemed to shock our system, but then my daughter and me quickly became used to the new routine and benefits associated with it.  One thing that helped me feel like I was highly engaged with the daycare was to have a very open communication and contact with the daycare staff.  During the first few weeks, the manager at the daycare encouraged to call once a day to check up on my daughter and I’d be happy to report that she did stop crying shortly after I left the building.