Today is a bittersweet day. It is Eli's last day at Barb's daycare after going there the past 3 years. Starting in June, he will be attending the daycare at Sacred Heart, which will be in the same building as his preschool this fall and also right across the street from his future elementary school. I wanted to switch his daycare this summer, hoping for a smooth transition for him to preschool when he starts, especially since he is reluctant when it comes time for any kind of big change.
When I first considered
a daycare situation for Eli after he stayed with me while I was able to work
from home the first year of his life, I knew I wanted him in an in-home
daycare. My first and only choice was
Barb, the mom of one of my former teaching colleagues. Barb has many, many years of experience in
daycare, and I knew she provided a structured, scheduled environment for the
kids. When Eli turned a year old, I
wanted him to have the opportunity to be in this kind of environment where he
could learn to socialize around other kids without me there. It also gave me the opportunity to work from
home uninterrupted. He started going
twice a week when he turned a year, Mondays and Wednesdays.
At this age, Eli was
still very timid. I remember he started
daycare even before he learned to walk.
It has always taken him a while to get used to new situations, and this
was no exception. Over a couple of
weeks, he gradually became accustomed to his new environment, and now, 3 years
later, he LOVES to go to Barb's!
He has learned so much
from Barb and her own family. She has
consistently provided nurturing yet firm discipline with clear expectations,
along with great communication. Our conversations
have changed compared to when he first started going there; she used to tell me
what he would eat each day at lunch to now describing how he interacts and
relates with the other kids.
When the time came where
Eli gave up his one and only afternoon nap during the day, I found it more of a
challenge attempting to balance getting my work done and giving him the time
and attention he needed. Last fall, he
started attending daycare 4 times a week, Monday through Thursday. I was also able to better utilize the time
when he was gone from home, so I started working more hours, too. My mom still makes the trek every Friday to
watch Eli, so I have all 5 days of the work week covered. I remember back to when we were still in Lost
Nation and she came there on a weekly basis (since he was born!). During his morning nap at that time, she
would even clean and help with laundry and has always brought a meal for lunch
time on Fridays. Ian's mom, Mary, also
will watch Eli for us when needed.
Living right next door, he has spent a lot of time over there!
Eli has learned so much
under the care of his grandparents and also Barb. Especially as he has gotten older, he
mentions on a frequent basis, "Barb says...". Here is a quick list of his quotes about what
he has learned while at Barb's house:
"Barb says....
-I should get my coat
and shoes on by myself (as a side note, I am guilty of being one of those
mothers who do things like this for my kid for far too long; as we are leaving
and going out the door, sometimes it just seems easier to do things like this
myself until I know he has reached past the point of frustration with trying to
learn these skills and can competently and easily do them on his own).
-We should have good
table manners and chew with our mouths closed.
-These are healthy
foods.
-We should exercise.
-We need to go outside
to get fresh air.
-It's a beautiful day in
the neighborhood."
Lastly, my most recent
favorite: Eli has started recounting the
events of the day on our way home now, detailing what they had for lunch along
with any other highlights of the day. One
of the little girls there learned how to wave, which Barb described as the
"Miss America
wave." I had to laugh as he told me
this and then proceeded to re-enact it from his backseat in the car.
Out of all the things he
has learned at Barb's, I was most in awe when he was talking about how they
pray before lunch. I asked him what they
say for their prayer. He began by
reciting the sign of the cross and then rattling off the meal time prayer from
beginning to end; all of which he first learned while there!
From a very young age,
Eli has been able to keep himself entertained pretty well for even longer
periods of time. On the other hand, I
have noticed how he has wanted to do different types of structured/learning
activities only on his own accord, seemingly only when he is in the mood to do
so. This became more of a concern to me
when Barb also mentioned that he would not readily participate in these types
of activities with the other kids but would prefer to play with other toys on
his own. Over time, he has become more
open to participating in group activities and working on various learning
activities, such as coloring, writing, working on letters, etc. when prompted
and not only by his own choice.
Another trait I noticed
he picked up from spending time at Barb's house has been learning how to be
polite. Every morning when I dropped him
off, she would always greet him with, "Good morning, Eli. How are you today?" Every morning I would have to prompt him with
his response, met only with silence from him.
This went on for months and months.
Now, not only will he answer the question without any prompting, he
reciprocates the question and will reply, "Good. How are you doing?" He will even do this with strangers like
cashiers and even the dentist! If you
ask him in the morning if he had a good night's sleep he will answer,
"Yes. Did you?" Maybe part of this just comes from getting
older too and developing into his own little person.
The once timid,
reserved, sensitive (even being very sensitive to babies crying, causing him to
cry himself) little boy Eli was at a year old has really transformed into a
more outgoing, friendly, and assertive little guy who now loves and adores the
babies while being very gentle with them.
