Day Care Where?

Jack's day care center, Bliss Academy Early Learning Center, is closing at the end of the May. Only the other day, for the umpteenth time, we were talking about how lucky we were with them. They were our 2nd choice, but ultimately far better than our first choice would have been for several reasons, and they've been great for Jack. He's been there every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since he was about 14 weeks - most of his life then. That's so long ago it's scary to write.

Basically they're being kicked out of their very nice location, so more ugly condos or office complexes can be built or something. I've kind of tried to be okay about the whole thing because really, it's a lot harder on the staff and teachers there, who on the whole strike us as very nice people, and are suddenly going to be out of a job they love doing - and in many cases have done at Bliss for many years. It's going to be harder on parents who BOTH work in offices 5 days a week.

But since this is my blog, you get to hear how it affects us, and needless to say we're quite upset about the whole thing. Jack drew his first sort of pictures there, made his first palm print / foot print art, made Father's and Mother's Day cards for us, kissed his first girl (we've got the picture to prove it), and made his first little friends. Had his first teachers, his first community aside from his family. He seemed to enjoy himself.

Jack won't have any idea what's going on when he suddenly isn't going there anymore. Presumably he'll be going somewhere else, and will adapt, but not only have we not yet found another place (in two days of frantic calling and looking, mostly by Emily), we don't know for sure that we'll be able to. It's six weeks away, and the shortest waiting list we've found is 3-6 months. And even those aren't exact, they're just estimates, which could be good - or bad.

Speaking philosophically here, because I don't want Emily to cry too much reading this, Jack was going to be leaving Bliss eventually anyway. He'd already switched rooms, going to one with entirely new teachers and new children. Soon he'd switch rooms again, and then leave. And he's perfectly happy being home with me, which is where he'll be, full-time, if we can't or until we can find another place. (Which, as an aside, we can safely assume means I'll be sleeping a whole lot less, since I'm still going to have to work and stuff. Anyway.)

We're going to find another day care, though. We have to. Because Jack enjoys it, and we think it's good for him. We don't have friends with kids his age in our neighborhood, just work and former work friends, none of whom live close enough to us for weekday gatherings.

The sad thing, among other things, is that it's just kind of a shame. Finding a day care, sending our baby to a day care, was the toughest and scariest thing we've ever done. Well, right up there with moving across the country and having a baby in the first place and bringing him home the first time and taking care of him and his first doctor's appointment and the first time he got sick and all that stuff. And we find a place, and it's great, and now it's gone.

What can you do? Just try to be glad for them being there when they were, because they were great, and hoping things turn out as well or better at his next place. Because we love the little guy and want him to be happy. And this is just the first tough change for him and for us, with probably, unavoidably, and hopefully in most cases wonderfully, many more yet to come.