Starting daycare this week :(

rt022104

So I just need some reassurance, ladies. I NEVER thought I would want to stay at home with my little one (have a career that I have spent over 11 years training for) but I would be ecstatic if I could! Unfortunately, finances prevent this. Anyway, she is starting daycare this week and I am just so sad . . just writing about it now makes me start crying. She seemed fine after her first half-day today . . . I just worry about her and am so sad that I won't get to be with her and see all the funny little things she does and all her "firsts." Tell me this feeling will go away!

MandBBewley

DS starts next week and I am so sad too.  I don't know yet if it goes way but I am right there with you on the hesitation.  I cried my eyes out today, I hope it gets better...everyone says it does.

Mrs.BLG

Well, I can't tell you the feeling will go away. Every day I wish I could stay home with DS and he doesn't even go to daycare- DH's grandparents watch him!

I honestly was thinking today that the reason many kids are the way they are is b/c parents are no longer around to raise their kids. So many families need 2 working parents in order to make it. It just stinks that it has to be this way, but there is nothing we can do about it. I also am NOT saying that b/c you send your kids to daycare or to a babysitter that they are going to turn out to be horrible children. I am just saying that I don't think parents get to spend as much time with their kids as they used to and therefore it has changed the way children act/behave. Kids can still turn out to be good if the parents teach them values....it's just that there are parents out there that don't teach their kids these things at all.

Ok, i'm rambling now, so I'll stop! 

LeighMonkey

My DS started daycare last Wednesday and I still cry every morning.  I know that probably doesn't help, but I just wanted you to know you are not alone in the way you feel.  It is HARD!!!  I want to stay home so bad, but we just can't afford it.  All of the other Moms tell me it does get better   Good luck and I feel your pain.

cvillewed

My LO has been at daycare since Jan 5,  ... and while it is still hard, and I still wish I could spend my days with him, it DOES get better.   I am very happy with the place we have him and it makes me smile that when I arrive to pick him up he is having fun and smiling with the 'teachers'.   Sure, I wish it were me he were with, but at least I know he is well cared for and enjoying it - that helps!   It also is nice to have some adult time and time on my own .. I do really believe it makes me enjoy the time with my LO that much more and lets me focus on him more when we are together.   I'm sure it's never "easy" to leave him, but I haven't cried since the 2nd week of leaving him there.  ; )     Good luck, and hang in there!

amanda_holbird@hotmail.com

My youngest starts on Monday and it makes me sad.  I look at my 2 year old (who's been in daycare since he was 10 weeks old) and he is a wonderful, smart little boy.  I just cherish the time I spend with him and make the most of it.  There are still times that it hurts to take my 2 year old, but he loves daycare, loves his friends, and has learned so much from being their.  If I had it my way, I'd like to be with them during their first 1 to 1 1/2 years and then let them go to daycare, but we just can't do that.  We need my income.  It has gotten easier as time goes by, but there are days that I still feel like crying and wishing I could be home.  I'm sure it'll be harder on me now that I'll have two in daycare.  Good luck!!

LuLu78

DS has been in daycare for almost a year now. He started at 9 weeks old. It was really hard to leave him at first, and occasionally its still hard. But honestly, he has so much fun w/ the other kids! It seems like he learns a lot, and its been a really great place for him. I felt the same way as you just thinking about leaving him. He was so little, it just seemed wrong. But sooner then what I thought, he started watching the other kids playing and loved it. It helped get him on a schedule too. Right now, I'm glad at how everything has worked out. I don't feel like I've missed much (or maybe I'm in denial?). If he took his first steps at daycare... I sure didn't know the difference. They would have never said a word! He's very social and such a loving little guy! But don't get me wrong, it takes awhile to get adjusted (you, not them), you will question your decision a million times and feel guilty. Don't beat yourself up, spend quality time with her and don't worry about the rest.