First Day of School

Wow, what a week!

Jon and Harper have been coming to visit me at lunch on Mondays for a few weeks now as my work schedule allows. They had just arrived and I was getting in the car when Jon listened to his voicemail. Harper's Nana had fallen in a parking lot and injured her wrist. She had driven herself to the E.R. and had figured her wrist was broken. She was right.

Obviously we were concerned for her and her well-being. She was in a lot of pain but was in good hands. After we hung up with her, I said, "well, I guess we're spending this lunch hour looking for daycare! And like that... our search began.

We visited 3 locations close to work, then we toured a place closer to home at the end of the day. We felt the best about the location closer to home for a few reasons. Jon is home during the day sleeping, so if anything were to happen, he'd be able to go get her quickly. Also, if we decide to keep her in daycare while I'm on maternity leave, it will be very easy to drop her off and pick her up. And finally, it just "felt right". No other way to describe it.

We had discussed putting her in a learning daycare center once the new baby arrived, knowing it would be a good age for her, and because we knew Nana wouldn't be able to have both kids all day long. Knowing that was about 5 months away was in our minds, so having it happen so suddenly was stressful and overwhelming. It meant a few of our initial plans had to be scrapped in order to accomodate the new major expense. We won't be getting a new, larger car as planned, which was an easy decision to make and we know God has our best interests in mind. We hope some day soon to be able to make it happen, but it's just not in the cards now. We'll be tightening our belts even more now with our spending, but we're so thankful to be able to have Jon home two days a week to lessen the expense and have her be a part-timer.

I had an extremely hard time coming to terms with putting her in daycare so suddenly. It's never been something I've wanted to do, and we feel so very fortunate to have had Nana available to us for such a long time. I ultimately wish I could be a stay-at-home mom and be her only caretaker, but it's not an option yet for us unfortunately. I had horrible feelings of guilt, thinking no one could possibly take care of her as well as me (or my family), but kept trying to reassure myself that this was going to be great for her socially and educationally, having new experiences and meeting all kinds of kids her own age.

Well, Harper did great! She had no problems being dropped off by Mommy and Daddy this morning. I think it helped that she had visited the site with us on Monday at our initial tour, and again on Tuesday with Daddy when they went to drop off the paperwork. At that time, she was allowed to go in and play with the kids in her class during their playtime, so nothing was totally new or foreign to her. We got her ready for the day and started our routine as we usually do, with a waffle and milk.


It snowed a very decent amount this morning, which I accept as a gift from God. Not only was it beautiful to look at, but it was a WONDERFUL distraction for me as I drove to work and had to concentrate on the road, instead of thinking about how awful I felt for dropping Harper off.



Every morning and evening we have to sign Harper in and out on the log. Here she is helping Daddy find her name.


Breakfast is served at 7:30, so Harper will probably be eating there most days, unless something is out of the ordinary. This morning it was cinnamon oatmeal, mandarin oranges and a cracker. She does pretty well with a fork already, so I didn't think she'd have any trouble with it. I sat her down at the table and helped her eat her first bite. We then each asked for a kiss from her, and she puckered up, then got right back to eating. We waved goodbye at the window and she never fussed or even flinched about it. It will be interesting the next few mornings to see if she reacts any differently to us leaving, knowing she'll be there all day.


When we were having dinner tonight, I gave her some milk from a regular cup to help her practice since the other kids her age don't use sippy cups in class. I put a very small amount in the bottom, but she still managed to spill it everywhere. Here is her reaction to the cold milk over her face and belly.

All-in-all, it was a great day for her. She was very obviously tired when I got her home which is to be expected, but she was in a very good mood. Each day we get a report from her teacher about what she ate and when, when she had dirty diapers, when she had wet ones, what they learned that day and any extras I should know about. It makes me feel like they really try to keep the parents informed and up-to-date about your child's activities. It's like they know you'd really rather be there than work, so they do what they can to keep track of everything. I really appreciate that!

As for Nana, she gets her hard cast tomorrow and will also be requesting further x-rays on her rib and right forearm as she's been experiencing a lot of pain in both those areas. Praying for a quick and speedy recovery for her!! She's got about 5 months to get healthy enough to take care of baby boy! :) We love you Nana!