So, Lily’s drop off on day two of daycare wasn’t quite as successful as day one. Knowing mom was leaving this morning put a whole new spin on ‘going to play with friends’. As I walked away her tears started and continued until I was at the van. And then the saddest, most pleading ‘maaaamaaaa’ rang out of the open windows. It took every ounce of self restraint not to run in and grab her. I find it so hard to resist her words when there are so few of them!
Yesterday the house was quiet. I could concentrate. It felt odd. Good but odd. By 8:30 Jackson was off to Junior Kindergarten and Lily was already enjoying her first day at daycare. Two days a week there will be quiet. I feel slightly guilty that as I typed that I felt a smile cross my face.
Sarah, our speech pathologist, recommended Lily interact with children more as this may motivate her to use her verbal words. It was amazing to see her yesterday morning so excited to be with the other kids. We had been to visit before and she was quite at home (as she is almost anywhere) but I was expecting a bit of hesitation being such a new situation. There was a little boy that she hadn’t met before but she was determined to get his attention and show him the blocks. She was smiling from ear to ear. Lily has always been around her brother, his friends and their little brothers or sisters but she has never had friends of her own. It was sweet to see her starting the process.
The daycare has been phenomenally supportive of her speech and they are not only going to be an active participant in whatever we are doing in therapy but they are also going to sign with her. There was another little boy at the daycare who was signing but the care providers didn’t know the signs and were left to figure it out as he communicated with them. They were very receptive to the idea of using the Little Helper Signing Stickers to learn and interact with Lily. I was most impressed yesterday when I picked her up and they said that they had taken our flash cards into circle time to show the other children the signs as well. Such a great way to have fun with the kids while making Lily feel like part of the group.
Melissa, one of the caregivers, said that they quickly learned ‘milk’ (one of Lily’s favourites) but then at naptime they had to go through her stickers again as she started rubbing her chest after signing ‘milk’. They quickly realized it was ‘please’.
My mom-guilt for the peace I felt yesterday is much diminished knowing how good this new experience will be for her.
mocobabies 
Mom-guilt is the worst, isn’t it? I feel guilty even when my child is happy and I’m doing the best for both of us.
Sigh….
I’m going through some serious mom-guilt with daycare too. Georgia actually cried this morning as she knew I was leaving her again. Not quite as dramatic as Lily’s cry out to you, but the same heartstrings.
I have been lucky enough to find a
Daycare provider who’s training to become Baby Signs and Kindermusic certified! Such a load off my mind!
Now if we could just get her potty trained…
It’s weird isn’t it that our girls are two and have yet to make their own friends. Same as Lily, Greer has always just existed on Reese and his friends as her playmates (oh and of course her other brother Jack). Greer’s at St. Elizabeth’s this year and it’s so nice to see her make some friends of her own so it really hit a cord when I read that part of your blog.