Back to Work

As many of you know, I'm now back to work full time and Carter has started daycare. I started back the Monday after Thanksgiving. Luckily my work let me start a "flex" schedule which means I work Monday - Thursday from 6am - 5pm. This allows me to be off work on Friday and be at home with Carter. Dave is doing the same type of schedule but he works Tuesday - Friday and stays home with Carter on Monday. We feel very lucky to have such a wonderful schedule and for only having Carter in daycare 3 days a week.

If you know me, you know I'm not a "morning person." I'm not really a night owl either, I guess you could say I like my sleep. A lot. So getting up at 4:45am 4 days a week isn't exactly fun, but believe it or not I am still very grateful to be doing it. Getting to be with Carter that extra day a week is definitely worth the lack of sleep. Plus it wasn't like I was sleeping tons the last few months anyway!

I'm also very grateful to Dave for having to take the morning shift (and not complaining). Since I'm off to work before they are awake, Dave has to get ready for work plus get Carter ready for daycare and drop him off. I get the awesome job of picking Carter up, the absolute highlight of my day. I honestly don't think I would have been able to drop him off that first day...or week...it was hard enough just thinking of him being dropped off. Definitely the worst part of being a mom is having to drop your child off to a stranger and trust they will kiss and rock and comfort and genuinely love him like you do. The good part is that Carter seems to love Julie, his daycare lady. We were referred to Julie through another daycare provider and when we interviewed her, both Dave and I thought she was wonderful. We also found out she provides daycare for a friend and we grilled her about Julie. She got rave reviews so after interviewing some other places and people, we decided she was the one.

This is Carter's second week and he seems to be the same happy and smiley baby as always. When I pick him up he is always sitting on her lap smiling and Julie goes over their day with me. Sometimes there are other children waiting for their parents and they all seem very happy and talkative too. At most, Julie has 6 kids but on most days she has 4 (some of them are part time like Carter). Yesterday I met the mom of Desire', a three year old little girl who also goes to Julie for daycare. Desire' was telling me all about their day and was very enthusiastic. She kissed Julie about 5 times before she let her mom put her boots on to go. The mom told me Desire' has been going to Julie since Carter's age. I feel so much better when I see and hear these types of things from other parents and kids. It seems that they all love Julie so much.

I wish I could be home with Carter every day but I know he is getting excellent care and he will be a well rounded child. I'm sure daycare will allow him to make friends easily and challenge his mind. Plus I know this is way harder for me and Dave than it is for Carter, for him it's just another fun adventure in life!