Shuya started daycare last week. We didn’t want to wait too long to get her into daycare because we were afraid it would be much harder if she got used to being home with Weigong and Weipo (grandpa and grandma on the mother’s side) and then started daycare 6 months later.
Wenguo brought her in to class 2 weeks ago so she could meet the teacher and kids. Shuya loved it! Wenguo stayed with her for a couple of hours and then brought her home. Last Monday Wenguo tried to drop her off and go to work – Shuya cried and seemed to think that we were abandoning her and it made Wenguo cry - she couldn’t leave her and stayed with her for a couple of hours, but each time she tried to leave Shuya would cry. At noon when the kids went outside to play Wenguo went home for lunch and came right back. The teacher said Shuya cried the whole time. Wenguo took her home.
Wenguo tried to bring Shuya back 3 other days during the week and would stay with her for a couple hours each day, always trying to leave and not able to because Shuya would start crying again. On Friday she left her there and went to work and I picked her up at 11:30. The teacher said she just cried for about 5 minutes after Wenguo left and then she was fine for the rest of the morning. Her daily report card showed that she was happy and played with the other kids.
Wenguo tried to drop Shuya off yesterday but Shuya cried again and Wenguo had to go to work so she brought her home and went to work. She will try again today.
We are so concerned that she might think that we are abandoning her that we are trying very hard to be careful so that she doesn’t get scared. We are so lucky that Wenguo and I have flexible work environments and that her parents are here to take care of Shuya when we need it. Wenguo’s parents are really helping her learn. Waigong(Grandpa) taught her how to go up and down the stairs holding on to the handrail and spindles and Waipo(Grandma) is already trying to potty train her.
This weekend when the temperature was around 100 degrees I took her to the pool each morning and we played for an hour or so in the water. She had a float and I had a float but she seemed to prefer having me hold her and swim around with her. She loved it! I can’t wait to get her swimming!
-posted by Dan
3 comments:
I'm happy to hear Shuya had at least one day when she didn't cry for long. I'm terrified of leaving Ava in the fall. Thanks for sharing your experience- I know how terrible it is to see your child crying in fear (or anger, or whatever it is they're feeling but not able to express in words). Good luck with future attempts. I do think some things like day care might take our girls a little longer to get used to for understandable reasons. We still struggle with Ava sleeping in her own room through the night and it's been 10 months. It's hard to know when to be extra understanding and patient or when to be more firm. You're so loving and nurturing, I know she will be fine with daycare soon.
Thank-you Diana!
Shuya is doing very well now. She stayed Tuesday and Wednesday almost all day and seems to understand that she has to stay here, even though she still cries when Wenguo leaves her. She only seems to like her teacher, Miss Kim, and is not as comfortable with the other teacher. Wenguo has been very conscientious about Shuya's feelings and has taken great pains to ease her into daycare. It's been very difficult for Wenguo to see Shuya crying but she's encouraged to see that she seems to be accepting the new routine. I’m glad we didn’t wait any longer to get her started. I’m sure it would be more difficult for her to adjust to the change. I hope that she would be able to share her good experiences with Ava before she starts daycare.
-Dan
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