My Week at Daycare

Photo courtesy of Innviertlerin on Pixabay.

It's back to school time here in Paris, and my week has been about getting our daughter, Phedre, settled in a new school and our son, Orphee, "adapted" at daycare. Phedre was skipping off to school as of day one but the situation with Orphee has been a bit different...

Adaptation means I have to bring the little one to daycare, spend time with him there, and each day leave and then come back shortly thereafter. We started off with ten minutes away, then twenty, then thirty-five. And each time, there were many tears as I departed and when I returned. At the beginning, Orphee must have thought "Cool! Mom and I go to daycare every morning and play!" Until I slipped out for a few minutes.

I spoke with a friend who went through this with his son about fifteen years ago, but back then, there was just one drop off, many tears, and somehow, everyone made it through relatively unscathed.

So which system is better? I'm not sure. It is nice to gently get these little ones used to the new environment, yet each day is almost a mini repetition of the first. It's sort of like: When you arrive at the pool and the water is too cold, do you jump right in or inch your way in over a period of ten minutes?

There probably isn't one right way. And it depends on each toddler as well. My daughter was much like her brother. Friends of ours have kids who just strolled right in and didn't shed a tear.

In any case, three weeks from now (hopefully) adaptation will be behind us and Orphee will be having a blast with homemade play-dough, finger paints, and cute little French songs before nap time. And I'll be getting "adapted" to writing every day...