The Playhouse

We decided to take Ryleigh out of the daycare that she was in. Right before I had Madison, Ryleigh had to switch classrooms. She was in there for 3 weeks before I took her out for maternity leave. She didn't adjust to the classroom at all. When she went back to daycare when I returned to work I expected the first week or so to be tough and it was. Then she came down with pneumonia over the weekend and missed the entire second week. So I knew that we were going to have to start over and have another rough week, but it never got any better. Some days I felt like it was getting worse. I spent many mornings crying on my way to work and feeling so guilty for leaving her there. There were days that I would spend my entire day obsessing over what I could do. There were so many things that I had to take into consideration and the biggest one was taking her out and starting all over at another daycare and making it worse. I would tell myself, just a few more days, let's see what happens. Then 2 months later, here I was, still dropping off Ryleigh at a place that she hated. And I wasn't sure why. I didn't get a good impression of the morning teacher and I don't think that Ryleigh liked her at all. I did like the afternoon teacher and so did Ryleigh. There were a couple of kids that I wondered if they picked on her. Every time I talked to the teachers they said she did fine during the day. She spent a couple of weeks being a loner before the afternoon teacher told me, so I asked them to work with her and they said she was improving in that area. Nothing got better for Ryleigh and I emotionally couldn't handle it any longer and something was telling me that something wasn't right. Her behavior at home changed and her social skills took a few a steps back not forward. Monday morning I decided that was enough and called my mom (gotta love her, she is always there) and she told me about a lady that she knows from church that has a state licensed in home daycare. I called her and talked to her and planned to meet her on Tuesday, but by the end of the day I already had decided that this was best for Ryleigh and I gave the daycare notice that afternoon when I picked her up. Her last day there was Friday and Friday afternoon we went by the new daycare. She seemed to really like it and we talked about it all weekend. We used to call daycare 'school' but daddy came up with a new name for the new daycare, playhouse, because if you mention daycare or school she gets upset. Last night we talked to her about going and she seemed excited. I told her she could bring a toy and asked her if she wanted to, she said yes and I told her to go pick one out. She goes to her playroom and comes back with an armful of her dollhouse accessories. I laughed and told her she couldn't take all of those and needed to find just one toy. So she goes back over and looks around and decides on her doctor set, I told her that was fine. This morning she woke and was ready to go. After I go out of the shower, she went downstairs and got her doctor set and came up telling me she was ready to go bye-bye. For the first time in a long time, Ryleigh was excited about leaving and I got her in the car without any problems. She ended up taking bear instead of her dr kit. As we back out of the driveway, I looked at her as I turned around just like I do every morning, only this time she looked happy. Every morning when I turn around as I am backing up, Ryleigh is doing one of three things, looking out the window and not saying a word, looking down or staring at me. She isn't smiling or looking happy either. I tell her I am sorry every morning when I look at her. This morning we didn't have any of that, I truly think she understood she wasn't going back to the other daycare and was going somewhere that she was excited about. Some of it could have bern me too, I felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders the day I told daycare I was taking her out. We talked about the playhouse on the way there and when I pulled up to the stoplight, she says "yay, house!". Most mornings she would have started crying and saying, "no school mommy, no school." So we talked about it some more and half way there (this is the part I have to get used to, it took me 3 minutes at the most to take her to the other daycare, this one is down Hwy AD and it takes me about 10 minutes to get there) she looks over at Madison and says. "sissy playhouse!". We pulled up and she was ready to get out. She wanted to play on the swing set, her favorite part. But I told her she had to wait until outside time and we went in. All the kids said hi to her. She kept saying she wanted to play outside. She looked around as I put her stuff in her cubby and then she walked over to the fish tank (which is really cool) and one of the little boys showed her the fish, then she played with the wooden train set (I stayed and played with her). Then she walked over to door and tried to open so she could go outside, I once again tried to tell her she had to wait, she got mad but did much better than usual. The teacher said that maybe it would be easier for her first day if they went outside, so they all got in line and said that Ryleigh should be the line leader because she was new. Well, Ryleigh didn't understand and just wanted to go outside, but she wanted me to hold her. So we stood at the back of the line and I held her hand, but as soon as the door opened and the kids took off she took off running as fast as she could down the sidewalk. She was the last one to swing set (she is the youngest) and so Caiden gave his swing to her. I walked over and told her I had to go to work and she was going to stay here while I was working. She never said anything and so I told her good bye, to have a good day and I loved her. I gave her a kiss and walked away. She never cried, she never said anything. I turned to look at her as I was closing the gate and she was swinging and looking as happy as can be. I almost cried on the way to my car because it was such a wonderful feeling. For the first time in 2 months, I dropped Ryleigh off without a single tear or an ounce of sadness. It was the best feeling I have felt in a long time!!

I couldn't be happier that I made this decision and I pray that she continues to do this well and likes it! It's a small daycare that feels very warm and homey. She will gets lots of one on one, which is what Ryleigh needs right now and she will have a calm and nurturing environment, not a chaotic one like at a bigger daycare. She will also have a lot more structured learning time than I feel she got at the other daycare. And the best part is it's Christian based, she will get basic bible teachings while she is there.

This day has turned out to be a great day for me and hopefully for Ryleigh. I will update you on her first day there later.