Dropping off The Pumpkin at the in-home daycare we’re using, just a block from our house, has been heart-wrenching.  Almost every day, when we start talking about mommy and daddy going to work and her “going to Miss Vicki’s house,” she’d lament, “Not today.”  I’d take her and our dog on our customary morning walk and end at “Miss Vicki’s house,” and by the time I finished tying up the dog, The Pumpkin would be crying already, straining at the stroller straps and saying “No, I want to go to Pumpkin’s house.”  Until last Friday, I’d have to pry her from my shoulder and leave with her reaching out for me with stiffened arms, crying.  For everyone who keeps saying, it’ll get better, it’ll get better, my child cried for the first week/month, yes, it’s getting better,  I was scared on Friday because la dra. had Thurs. off and kept her with her, but Friday I was able to put her down in the house and say goodbye with only a little lip-quivering.  Vicki, the daycare provider, and her husband, George, tell me that her spells of sadness after I leave have gotten shorter; on Friday, she didn’t even cry or go stand next to the door.  Her naps are getting longer, though she sleeps on the sofa and not in the crib.  And while the first few days ended with her running to me crying, clinging to me and saying “Pumpkin cry daddy,” Friday she ran to me smiling and didn’t hang on for dear life.

 

La dra.’s been role-playing with her with her toys, and I think that’s helped.  So now we catch her telling Dora that she’s going to work and Diego that he’s going to Miss Vicki’s house.  She was singing to herself last night, and I caught her singing “Daddy always comes back” and “Miss Vicki’s house is fun.”  [BTW, she thought it was hilarious that “Miss Vicki’s house” and “Mickey Mouse” rhyme.]  Next time she goes, it’ll be after an extended stay with us because of the holidays, so I’m scared that she’ll regress, but we’ll see.

 

Speaking of regressing...  It’s interesting to see how she’s reacting to me working after only knowing me being home with her all the time.  Where three weeks ago “No Daddy!  Only Mama!” was a common utterance at bath-and-bed-time, now she calls for me to come to the bath, makes sure I’m in the bedroom when she gets into her pajamas, and, most amazing, she’s letting me read to her at night again.  She actually gets off mama’s lap and crawls into mine on the floor for a book, something she hasn’t done in I can’t remember how long.

 

So, it’s all an adjustment, for all of us.  On top of the work/homelife changes are just the normal 2-year-old toddler-development things, which can only exacerbate matters.  She gets cranky very easily, throws boneless-on-the-floor tantrums, and, most frustrating, when tired she gets confused and does this “yes-no-yes-no” thing.  She wants something, says yes, then freaks out, says no and flails around.  Then you take it away and she’s like, dammit, I said yes!  More flailing, and repeat.  And with the new situation at home, I can’t tell what’s just todller-related and what’s because of me going back to work.