On Monday, PrettyGirl started at her fourth daycare in less than a year. The difference between this and the other two daycare changes is that this one is entirely voluntary.
It's not that PG was in a terrible situation, it's just that we thought she could do better. She was in a home-based daycare where the rooms are small and the TV was on way too much. And the provider, nice as she is, didn't seem to do much more than babysit. So, when M found out that Hopkins employees get a discount at the nearby YMCA daycare, we looked into that and found it to be a much better situation for PG. More spacious, more kids her own age, more education, and no TV.
Sounds good? PG's current provider didn't seem to think so. Or, at least, she took it way too personally for our tastes. Thankfully she only subjected us to two or three days of "Did I do something wrong?" but she still got in a little jab here and there during the three weeks between giving her notice and the last day. Telling us that she had pictured PG being with her up through the 5th grade (at which point it would be after-school care) was a nice touch. She also apparently was worried that PG would get pushed around in a daycare facility setting. Stay tuned to see how that theory panned out in actual practice.
We took PG to the Y a couple of weeks ago for a few hours so she could see it and get familiar with the place. She didn't take to it all that well at first. She cried a little when one of the ladies put her on her lap to read her a story. Later, M tried to get PG involved in the group by starting to play with a toy, and every kid except PG gathered around. PG just kept to herself and played with a truck.
One of the boys came over to show PG his orange balloon with Thomas The Train Engine on it. PG wanted no part of this and told him so with a "no thanks!" dripping with finality. But the boy pressed on because, seriously... Thomas... on a balloon. What's not to like? PG finally tired of his advances and clocked him with the plastic truck. So, yeah, I would not characterize that as "being pushed around by the other kids."
Of course, it turned out that PG was agitated because we were there. When the kids went out to the completely awesome playground, we left PG with them and went to the Y proper to sign up for gym membership, the other perk in having her go there. When we were done with that and came back to the daycare, PG was clearly much happier to be there. And she was excited to talk about going to the Y afterward.
I kinda dreaded the last day at the old daycare. I figured there would be some lamentations and guilt, though I wasn't expecting the lady to actually cry, which is what she was on the verge of doing when she hugged PG for the last time. It was pretty sad, though it was nice to see that my kid was well-regarded there.
PG's first day at the new place went well. She had lots of fun and talked glowingly of the Y at the end of the day, in spite of having been bitten on the arm by another kid. Apparently, PG was playing with something that the other kid wanted. Property rights were briefly discussed and then the kid presented her case via her teeth. No skin was broken, and PG didn't seem to dwell on the matter for too long. She was fairly casual about it that night when she told us "I bite. It hurt."
So, I think we've made a good decision in relocating the kid. And Mommie and Daddy stand to get into better shape, being as there is a gym right there to be used after drop off and before pick up!
(Song reference: "YMCA" by The Village People)
