Walking, Working and the Return to What is Normal…
William started back at daycare last week and did very well. We are looking at resuming our normal routines over the next 2 weeks, perhaps faster than we originally thought as he did better than anticipated.
William started attending daycare last week. The owner is keeping an eye on him herself and we have tailored his return around her vacation. He went a half day on Monday and Tuesday then a full day on Wednesday. MaryVic went half a day on Monday and for a full day on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Drop off on Monday was awful. MaryVic went to class with no fuss after getting hugs from Momma and William. William who had been ignoring all talk of his imminent return to ‘school’ on Monday tried to keep on going past his classroom. There was no coercing him into the room and no one wanted to make a bad association by forcing him through the gate. Finally, the owner pulled just a little and I pushed just a little and he scooted past the gate. He had been quietly saying ‘no’ to all our entreaties…play with your friends, color, get the tractor, etcetera. The volume increased noticeably when the gate closed and he went to bawling. I sat in the office for 20 minutes listening until the owner came to talk to me. We agreed to see if he would go to breakfast and if not I would leave work to retrieve him. No one was going to pick him up and carry him, he had to get up and walk. Right then, he was laying on the floor refusing to do anything. “NO!”
He did perk up and had a nice time. He was quite happy to see me at 12:30 and didn’t really want to wait for his sister to get out of the lunch room. He would point at the door, take a few steps, and look back at me, annoyed at his escape being delayed. We all went home, took naps and had a nice afternoon.
Tuesday, both of them went to class without fuss. MaryVic was excited to see her class was in with Williams. She went through the gate while I whisper hissed, “Mary, grab your brother’s hand!” She turned around and said, “William! Come On!” He ran on in after her, pausing to enthusiastically wave bye to me. I ran!
I picked him up at 12:30. I had time to chat with the owner who said he was much doing better than she expected. There was one piece of the playground equipment they were not letting him get on but it was more them not being ready for him to be on it. William was happy to see me again and we spent another afternoon at home.
MaryVic wanted both parents to pick her up so William and I waited for Greg to come home before getting her. Of course, she then fussed about being picked up late! Fortunately the distress didn’t last long since it was Tuesday night and time for the weekly visit to see Cow at Chik-Fil-A.
William’s special balloon surprise. It was slow when we got there so Sean Hughes the Balloon Guy made more elaborate balloons for the children present.
William loved his balloon man and couldn’t decide which way to wear it.
Minnie Mouse ears were very popular with the girls.
The Cow is a ham and cut up with Greg some. He really interacts with customers, stealing milk, asking for phones and cameras, and high-fiving everyone. He does like to have his picture taken.
Wednesday William went to class without a problem, waving bye to me. MaryVic was unhappy despite big hugs from Mom and brother. Unlike before the ‘break’, William gave her a huge hug each day. He stayed all day at daycare. I was worried he would be fussy after nap. We had a note from the owner about trying Tuesday through Friday of the following week.
William was tired each day and we made sure he had a warm bath with epsom salts at night. Otherwise there were no issues.
The daycare did move the teacher who was in the room when the break occurred, to caring for a different age group. The new teacher is the one he had prior to being moved to the 2 year old room. The trucks the children were pushing have been removed from the room.
Now for some pictures of our time at home…
I couldn’t resist taking these pictures of the kids waving bye to Daddy on Friday morning. MaryVic had been borrowing my bedroom slippers but the slippers were upstairs. I let her borrow some of the shoes I had stashed in the pantry and William snagged a pair too. They clattered around for part of the morning before returning the shoes to me.
And that’s all the pictures I have of them at home!
Everyone at work has been super nice and welcoming my return. I am still on intermittent FMLA leave until the first or second week of June. The first full week at daycare for William will be the first week of June. This lets me have the flexibility to be available should any issues arise. Currently I have no sick leave so once I’m off FMLA completely, Greg gets to be the point man for child care. Sick leave accrues at 8 hours per month so what are the odds that the kids will get sick in the first month of daycare?
Thankfully everything has worked out in all areas of our family life from my job, my availability to care for William, Greg’s ability to provide for our family when my income went to nearly nothing, toys from friends and family to entertain the ‘stuck’ little boy, little mother MaryVic, the return to normal going smoothly so far, and many other things big and small. Hopefully everything will continue to progress in a positive manner. Now that our time will be more crunched between work and the home front, I anticipate that our blogs will be less frequent although I hope we can pause and share our lives with our family and friends on the weekends. Maybe at naptimes like now!
William’s next appointment with the doctor is May 27. His leg will be x-rayed to be sure it has healed or it is continuing to heal well. We are not anticipating any problems and will be sure to let everyone know what the doctor says about it.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
So glad to see William is doing so much better and back to his school. The photos of them with your shoes on are just priceless.