So for the last two months, we have been struggling with a decision regarding WP's day care. As most of you know, in an ideal world, we would be able to afford me being a stay-at-home mome (SAHM) but unfortunately, that is not our reality right now. Since hiring a nanny is way to expensive and we don't have family close enough by to watch WP (and eventually CE) on a regular full time basis, WP is in day care. For the past nine months, he has attended a day care (O.A.) that we liked and WP seemed to be happy at. However, in the last two months, some things have arisen at this day care that displease DH and I to say the least.
First, in April, WP fell and bumped his head. The fall caused a nasty little bump and bruise to form and he was purple and blue under both of his eyes and in between his eyes. Certainly, the fall should have resulted in a phone call to DH or me (if not both) to notify us about what had happened. However, no phone call occurred and we did not become aware of WP's fall until DH picked him up at the end of day (and well after Will's doctor's office had closed for the day). Luckily, DH was fine and the bruise was basically gone by the next morning. However, in my opinion (and I think most mommy and daddy's opinions) the failure to notify us and let us determine whether WP needed to be seen by his doctor was inexcusable.
Over the course of the next four days, I made efforts to speak with the director of the day care but she was out on spring break. While I can appreciate her need to enjoy some time off, she really should have left a message on her voice mail indicating when she would be returning and providing contact information for the person in charge during her absence.
Anyway, once she returned my call, my feelings of concern were not eased. So I began considering switching WP to a new day care facility but I was worried that a switch might cause him to become upset as he seemed so happy. I decided to let him stay at O.A. giving the school another chance.
Well, yesterday basically sealed the deal that as soon as we could find a new spot for WP at another day care we would be moving him. This week is transition week at O.A. (basically the kids go to their new classroom for 2 hours/day to get to know their teachers before fully moving up starting June 1). We were so excited that WP would be moving to the toddler room where some of his friends with earlier birthdates had already moved to. We anticipated that WP might have some seperation issues as he was so used to his current teachers and environment so we were not surprised when we heard that he cried for a little while and wanted to snuggle upon first arriving in the toddler room.
What we did not see coming was the conversation both DH and I had with the director yesterday. It appears as though O.A. would like to label WP as a problem child because he is a 12 month old little boy who doesn't walk independantly, still prefers baby food over table food and is a little fussy during this transition period. So instead of moving WP up, the director told us she wanted to move him to the "tee-tots" room until he was more "up for the challenge of the toddler room." Well hello mouth, meet floor. The first we heard of his crying the whole two hours was yesterday during my phone conversation with the director, which means someone is not telling me the whole truth (either WP's current teacher, who indicated some fussiness which ended after a few minutes, or the director).
I tried to explain to the director that WP was not the only child preparing to move up who was not walking on his own and that one of his little friends who is about a month older (and already moved up to the toddler room) wasn't eating table foods when she transitioned up...to no avail. While the director said that the decision was up to us, she advised against it.
Now of course, DH and I want to do what is in WP's best interest. But we believe that moving him to the tee-tot room where he would still be the oldest child in the classroom surrounded by children several months younger than he is is not going to encourage him to begin exploring more table food or even begin walking on his own (he has been cruising for almost 3 months). Instead, we felt as though WP was getting the "shaft" and the "problems" would only be further frustrated.
Oh and did I mention that somehow our son's school pictures never happened. Now while this is only a minor thing, I don't appreciate being told that pictures were taken only to find out that he actually cried during his scheduled day but nobody bothered to tell me so the two make-up days set for the following Monday and Tuesday came and went without WP having new pictures taken. Yeah that's just another big old fat minus sign in the books for O.A.
Anyway, after the events of yesterday morning and talking to DH and my sister (she's raised three kids so she's got a definite insight to all things parenting), I started calling around to some of the day cares we liked during our initial search for WP to see if there was anything available. Amazingly, and by the grace of God, the day care that was our first choice originally (didn't end up there due to there being no space available when I had to start back to work) had one spot open for WP's age. By the way, it happens to be the day school affiliated with our Church which makes it even better!! So, I took the spot without a second thought and we turned in WP's notice to O.A. yesterday evening.
This morning, when DH dropped WP off, the director said hello but didn't mention our notice. So DH called her to discuss what our obligations were concerning two-weeks notice, etc. She acted like she was really shocked and upset about our decision and assured DH that she would be contacting me this morning to discuss the situation. It's now 2:50 and I still haven't heard from her...her failure to follow through on a promise simply reconfirms my concerns regarding letting WP stay at O.A.
I went and toured WP's new day care today and am so happy to report that I finally feel at ease with where he is going to be. And they have room for CE when she's ready which is like icing on the cake!! WP starts at the new school June 1st and he will be a "Bunny" until August when he and the 7 other students in his class will become "Kangaroos." All of the students move up together until they reach Pre-K so as long as he is at this school his classmates will stay the same for the most part and they will move up as a whole class.
While I would still prefer to be able to be home with my sweet boy, I feel better that he will be in a place where he is not shunned if he crys or has an off day. Not to mention he will now be less than five minutes from my office...there is some comfort in that. For those of you that have listened to DH and I over the last several months (and especially yesterday) while we struggled with this ever so important decision, thank you for your concern, your prayers and your patience!
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