Our first provider was great, Alex started there at 3 months, and we could not have been happier. Kara loved our little girl and took such great care of her. But things changed and they moved out of state.
The search for a new daycare at that point was somewhat traumatic for me. Interviewing people that just were not as good as Kara, could not live up to the high bar that she had set. We found one provider that had a pack of toddlers close to Alex's age, but we found out the spouse who would be on premises while my daughter was had a violent criminal past, including pending domestic violence charges at the time we interviewed them. (I love that they conveniently forgot to mention this during the interview.) Anyhow, that really soured me and made the process very stressful for me. That there were state registered people who had violent criminal history.
We did wind up finding a few good providers, but one in particular stood out to us. Ms Holly, she was GREAT! Alex loved her, so much so, that she asks to go there on weekends and every chance she gets. They sing, dance, read stories, so crafts, and occasionally have a movie day. Alexi is really blossoming under her care. But, again, things change, and Ms Holly was not filling her daycare spots, and decided to accept a job in the human services field. (I can not blame her, she has a degree in it, and she is great with people.)
I am disheartened and saddened by the fact that we will be up heaving our young daughter's life once again. I realize that children are resilient, and that they don't have a long-term memory at this age, but it still take time to get through and past the change. Last time we changed (in August) it was the worst 2 weeks ever! Alex was moody, and screamed and cried every time I dropped her off. That resulted in me crying all the way to work, and being moody all day. She was very temperamental all night, and would throw a tantrum of a piece of hair falling in her face. It was so hard on all of us. But eventually it turned around and she went back to her usual terrible twos self. When we made a small change a couple of months ago we experienced a complete regression in potty training. She flat out refused to even try to pee pee on the big girl potty. We lost all ground, and had the moody little girl throwing tantrums at the drop of a dime.
We are preparing for the worst, we are prefacing all daycare interviews with the fact that changes will cause her to regress, that she will be moody, shy and a little withdrawn for the first few weeks. Once she feels like she fits in she will be outgoing, talkative, and fun. But until then it will be hard on all of us. So far no one we interviewed seemed to think it was a big deal, one of the candidates even went as far to say if we tell her Alex's favorite foods/snacks/drinks/movies/games, she will make sure to have them all available for the first few weeks, until she has adapted to the change. Anything to make it easier on the child. (I think she is the lead candidate at this point.) But, maybe, Alex will surprise us, and will handle this change with ease, maybe she will flourish in a new environment, and will show her fun and funny personality from the start. I guess at this point it is a wait and see game, but we will hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Wish us luck in this change!
Here is Alex on one of her "moody" days. (I am prepared to see this for a few weeks during the transition.)
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