First Day at Daycare

Today was Natalie's first day at daycare and my first day back to work. This day has been dreaded since before Natalie was born, with the dread creeping further and further into my psyche as we quickly (all too quickly) approached it. If I was a drivers ed teacher and had passenger seat brakes, I would have slammed them on last week to slow things down a bit, but alas, here we are. And I'm happy to say that we made it, though it was not without tears. I cried on the way to the daycare, then cried again as we walked to her room, then cried again when I kissed her goodbye, then cried off-and-on all the way to work. The teachers and staff consoled me and assured me that every mom reacts the same way when dropping off their sweet bundle for the first time. In fact, I was told that it would be perfectly normal to cry every day this week, and then next week I would probably feel better.

Luckily, Natalie's teachers are very sweet ladies. When Patrice talked to Natalie for the first time, Natalie smiled up at her with her sweet flirty smile, and that made some of my sad feelings disappear. Then they put her in the swing and as she contentedly swooshed back and forth, more of my blues melted away. Then they put her on the play mat for tummy time and she looked just as comfortable as she does at home, so my heart lightened a little more. I'm still not totally tear-free, but I will get there. Each day will get easier and eventually, though it's still hard to totally believe, I'll be one of the breezy moms who drop their babies off with a smile.

Here's a photo of Natalie and Patrice: