Daycare/Work: Two Days In

Sorry for not updating earlier. I could throw a litany of excuses at you, but the truth is I just suck. Sorry.

So, daycare! Work! Life! Etcetera!

Day One, Chris dropped Gwen off at daycare. She cried a little bit when he left but got over it very quickly. I went to work and had an absolutely awful day. A lot of the things I used to enjoy and appreciate about my job - things that made my job worth keeping, despite the lack of challenge and the relatively low pay - have drastically changed and/or been taken away. On the way to work, I felt so sick I thought I was going to throw up on the side of the road. I knew I was doing it to myself, but could not figure out how to stop.

All morning I promised myself I would call the daycare at lunch to see if Gwen had had her nap. Then when it came time, I realized I couldn't take more bad news, so I didn't call.

Chris picked Gwen up and I met them at home. Her face when she saw me was absolutely indescribable! She toddled over to me and gave me a big hug, patting me on the back with both hands, cooing with glee. It was pretty awesome. Chris reported that she had only napped for an hour, but other than that, "had had a pretty good first day".

Day Two, Chris dropped her off again. He called me at work to report that Gwen had pushed him away as he tried to take off her coat because she was so eager to go play with her friends. I was so happy to hear this news that a lot of my work-related stress melted away. I had a pretty good workday, wherein I tried to sort through all my perceived problems and determine which ones were actually genuine, long-term issues to deal with, and which ones were short-term bumps along the lines of hey, it's freakin' hard to start working again after a whole year off! (This is complicated by the fact that my department is moving to a new office next Monday, so a lot of stuff is in chaos - double transition.)

I picked Gwen up and she was once again really happy to see me. The moment of reunion at the end of the day is quickly becoming the day's highlight. Once again she only napped for an hour. Denise reported no separation crying, however, there were a few moments of frustration as Gwen does not like being told "no" she can't touch something. (We are quite familiar with this scenario!) She's just got to learn; all the toys and balls and books are for her, the VCR is not. Other than that, another good day.

The only issue so far is that with those short naps, she's getting really cranky in the evenings. Hopefully the naps will lengthen as she gets used to the new environment.

On the whole, she's doing well!