The Blogfathers

Dear Little Dude,

A few weeks ago, when we started taking you to the daycare lady, I began to worry that you’d love her more than us. It’s a perfectly rational fear, isn’t it? That you’ll begin to know and notice and love more the person with whom you spend the most time?

I mean, right off the bat your behavior changed. You came home happy and you came home with a few more phrases in your baby-cabulary than we’d already taught you. We took you to the daycare with your “GAHHHH!”s and you “MMMBAAAHHHH!”s in place. I think you may have even taken with you the subtle angry “HEY!” you shout whenever someone holds you or moves you around too abruptly.

But in those first few weeks I noticed that you started shouting out new phrases, like: “BLAMGIL!” and “OMMAGH!” and “BECH!” You must have learned those words from the new lady, or at least from the other kids in the daycare. What worried me most was that your “AIIIIIIIEEE!” had changed to “AIIIIIIEEIIIIIGGHHHAAHHHHH!”

And that’s not cool.

I suggested to your mama that we move you to another daycare provider. Someone we disliked and whom you showed the same (non)support.

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t want you to hate daycare, and I completely understand and appreciate that you’ll learn new words and phrases; you’ll even learn some basic life skills. (And I can’t fault the daycare lady for helping wean you off the pacifier as a crutch, because lately, all you need is your thumb.)

(And I also can’t fault her for setting you onto a schedule that tires you so much that you sleep through the night — it’s a godsend for your mama and me.)

(Actually, I shouldn’t complain at all. It seems you love daycare, and that you’re flourishing. You leave happy, you come home happy, and your nights with us are unbelievably pleasant. I was just worried that you might end up forgetting about us and love daycare lady more. That, after a while, you’d come to think of us as the daycare, and of the daycare as home.)

But all my worries were dispelled with the following story from your mama. She just called me and said:

It was so sweet when I took him to daycare this morning. I handed him to the daycare lady and said, “Bye bye buggy! See you later!” And he smiled at me so big! And then he turned to the daycare lady and barfed on her boobs. Then he turned back to me and smiled big again.

That right there, son, is why I love you. Whereas you obviously profit from the daycare, you still take the time to let us know you love us.

Someday, I’ll barf on some strange lady’s boobs just to let you know how much I love you.

Parenting Challenges, daycare