Daycare, here comes Caleb!

Back in September, Natalie told me about a daycare program that she decided to send Max to a couple times a week. She liked the school and what the kids were being taught. After sending Max to school there, Natalie also learned that the church hosted a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group and began attending. Since before Caleb was born, I had been wanting to get involved in a MOPS group but never had really taken the time to try to find one since we moved here. Needless to say, I was excited when she invited me to try it out and last Friday I was able to take her up on her invite.

One of the bonuses of the group is that they provide free childcare while you're there as well as lunch for the kids. The children get to take part in the school's daycare activities for a couple hours while the mothers have some bonding time and hear a devotional message. Caleb was ecstatic about going to "school." From the moment he found out where we were going that morning, he repeatedly kept telling me that he wanted to go to "school" and rushed me to get out the door. He was so excited that he wiggled all over the place as I tried to get his picture.

 

When we pulled up and he saw the playground, he was thrilled - that is until Mommy explained that it was raining and we had to go inside. (Hopefully, another time! Right?)

I was a bit apprehensive about leaving him, even if it was for just a couple hours, but Natalie's confidence in the teachers that work there made me feel better. Max was in Caleb's class so I knew he'd have at least one buddy he already knew. Plus, I invited my friend Shannon who brought Vivi, another of Caleb's playmates.

Caleb was not nervous about leaving me at all. At the door his teacher greeted him and told him that they were working on colors. One of the ladies asked, "Caleb, do you know your colors?" Caleb looked at the paper and said something like, "Red, yellow, green" and then walked over to play with some toys. He never turned back, never told me goodbye, never gave me a kiss. He's a big boy! I, of course, had mixed feelings - happy that he didn't shed any tears but a little sad to see how quickly he traded in his Mommy.

About an hour into the meeting though, one of the teachers came to get me saying that Caleb needed me because he had to go to the bathroom. Shocked because he never usually warns me before he goes, I headed through the maze of classrooms and kids to help my boy, proud that maybe he'd finally decided it is time to get serious about potty training. After hanging out in the stall for awhile trying to keep him from touching everything and unwinding the toilet paper, I came to the conclusion that it was a false alarm. At least he tried to be a big boy at school.

I took him back to his class where he enjoyed some pizza bites, green beans, and fruit snacks. He looked so small at that big table without a booster seat, but he did pretty good because I didn't see much food on him when I picked him up later.

After the meeting, I headed to the room to pick him up and found him somewhat upset and disgruntled. The teacher said he'd done wonderfully the whole time until it was time to put the regular students down on their mats for nap time. Since the MOPS kids weren't staying for nap time, Caleb, Max, and Vivi were waiting at the table instead for their moms to pick them up.

Before coming into the school that morning, I told him that we didn't need a woo woo (pacifier) at school and had put it in his backpack/diaper bag. His sweet teacher had found it and given it to him to comfort my tired boy until his Momma showed up. As I came to the door, he cried, "I want you. I want you to hold me."  I motioned for him and told him to come to me but no matter how many times I told him, he sat at the table and waited until his teacher told him it was okay to go. I was proud of him for being a brave boy that morning but it felt good that he still wanted his Mommy some too.

After getting a hug, he told me he liked "school" and wanted to go back - and by go back he meant right that second. I told him we'd have to wait until next time but we would be coming back.