One thing I've never talked on here since going back to work after Grady is how our mornings and afternoons roll. It's a true circus, let me tell you. But it's somewhat doable, most days.
Mornings - Kevin always takes Grady to Ms. Becky's unless Grady has PT. This is a huge help. I always take Molly Anne to her school. On Monday and Friday's I take her on my way to work. Tuesday through Thursday I take her then come back home and work. We have some goooood conversation in the car! And we listen to music and do all of the things! This is precious time I have with her and I love it!
Afternoons - short answer - insane. I pick both children up. And they're at different places in completely opposite directions and not near home. I really don't know what to do about this but it's a two year temporary thing. Well then they'll still be in different places but Molly Anne will be in elementary school close to our home.
This is the deal - I really love where they each are for this time of their lives so for now it's worth it to me to drive an hour or hour and a half every afternoon. Ms. Becky is excellent and I'd really like for Grady to go through all of those hard things like hitting, biting, learning to communicate at Becky's. It's a more casual environment than a real daycare. I'm not saying he's going to bite and hit but you know what I mean. 18-22 months is a hard time...the hardest in my opinion.
Molly Anne is excelling at her new school and goodness yall I can't even tell you all how fabulous everything is there. They.are.wonderful. Like WONDERFUL. She has grown up so much and learned an incredible amount. She came home counting to 6 in Spanish the other day. What?! Yes! She sings songs, she has amazing manners (they demand "yes ma'am, no sir" from each child), she has the most fun playing and doing crafts. She has Science, Spanish, Fun & Fitness, Math & Computer Lab and Drama class every week! It's simply awesome. So I know it's the right place for her and it's non-negotiable.
As of now, I still have 7 more months of doing all of this driving and technically another year too. I did sign Grady up to go to Molly Anne's school and I'm going to give it a fair shot by going to visit the toddler classes. I've heard from other friends that they are excellent too. I just only know Ms. Becky and we love her -- she's part of our family! It would be so hard to leave her but I have to think about my sanity and my work, and she's supportive of that! I really need to start traveling for work again and there is no way Kevin could do two drop offs and two pick ups every day. So we'll see. It'll shake out how it's supposed to and we'll cross that bridge later.
For now, I'm so happy with where they both are every day. They're safe, happy and excelling so really what more could I ask for?!
HI-this is so interesting. We are looking at an elementary school that is a solid 30m away from our house. Maybe 40m on a bad traffic day. Its not the closest but it is by far the one that I feel best about. It would be an 8 year commitment...so daunting at best. One thing that I have been considering is hiring a grad student type person 3 days a week to pick my son up and bring him home/start dinner. I know it would cost money but I think it would save sanity.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused, why can't your husband do pick ups/drop offs? I think I missed something. I travel for work as well and my husband will adjust his days to make sure our kids are where they need to be. He often will do some work from home in the evenings on those days. My husband is half of our parenting team, so he's just as involved in their care.
ReplyDeleteI really hope the toddler program is a good fit for you! Sounds like having both kids at the same school will be a sanity saver.
I do this exact same thing - my youngest is in a home daycare (very similar situation to your home daycare and I have the same feelings about it) the opposite direction of where my 4 year old is in preschool. Part of it is because we have moved a few times in the past few years and I have limited options when we start at weird times during the year. The other part is like you said, they are both in good places for them at this point in their lives!
ReplyDeleteMy husband does pick up and drop offs here and there but once again, like you, my job is more flexible so it falls on me (not saying this hasn't been something I have been annoyed about here and there-ha). Regardless, just commenting to say it is nutty but when you like where they both are it just ends up becoming part of your day/life/routine.