First Day at Mother’s Day Out for my Difficult Toddler
Well, we did it. Survived, that is… sort of. Let me just say that I did NOT receive a phone call to come and get him early. That’s success for me!!!
To be as organized as I usually am, I had the hardest time getting us out the door this morning. I labeled everything last night and had his bag ready to go. I went over his morning routine in my head countless times trying to figure out the best way to keep him happy until we arrived at school. Nevertheless, we were five minutes late on our first day (not too bad). He woke up in a decent mood, took his fish oil with no hesitation (whole different post), and stayed happy the entire car ride there. As we approached his classroom, he actually let out a little babble/laugh…which for us is a VERY BIG DEAL.
His teacher met me at the door and explained that they had decided to split his class in two. She showed me his new classroom and introduced me to his new teacher. Ok, I can handle it…I mean, when she met me at the door, I just thought for sure that they were already kicking him out. 
There were four or five other little ones already in the classroom and all seemed very happy. I set Kyler down and got on the floor with him to help him adjust. Oh no. For absolutely no reason, he just starts crying. GREAT. I was showing him the toys and the other children (he usually loves other kids). Nope, not working. Thankfully, one of the teacher’s aides was able to get his attention and stop the crying. Whew. Ok, time to sneak out! Before sneaking out, I explained to his new teacher that Kyler is still taking 2 naps. If he doesn’t get the morning nap, he will get very fussy!!! I also had left him a cup of juice, milk, and lunch. She seemed to understand and encouraged me to sneak away..and I did.
Ok, deep breath. I did it. He’s there and he’ll be fine. I decided to just go hang out at Target for an hour so that if they did call me when he gets tired and irritable, I’d be right around the corner. It was approaching 11am and they still hadn’t called. So, I went home, paid bills, straightened the house, ate lunch and headed back to get him. It was so nice to have the time BY MYSELF to get stuff accomplished. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself!
I returned to the school a little early and decided to go ahead and pick him up. I brought my camera (the battery had been dead earlier) to take some “first day of school” pictures. High hopes. This time, I didn’t hear my child screaming….could it be? Did he survive? Is he NOT crying??? I peaked through the window on the door and saw that the teacher was changing his diaper. Obviously, he wasn’t going to be happy during that process but he wasn’t screaming. A few of the other children were sleeping in cribs, one was sitting quietly in his crib, one playing quietly on the floor, and one rocking herself in a rocking chair. Seemed fairly peaceful.
When I went in, I realized that Kyler was crying so I rushed to get him. I asked the teacher how he had been. Her response….”well, to be honest, he cried almost the entire time.” UGH!!!!! She told me that they didn’t give him the morning nap or the juice that I had provided. (I know that’s why he was so upset.) They were able to get him to sleep for a few minutes though after lunch. I felt terrible for Kyler and the teacher. She must have been exhausted- I would know. Then the Director stopped in and informed me that, “he had a rough time today.” Really? I mean, was my child the only one in the entire school to be so irritable and fussy? Probably.
Poor little guy was so happy to be back at home with me. I have such mixed emotions. The school is good and I feel comfortable with them. The problem is the nap situation. I do not want to lose that morning nap and he needs it. They said that they would try to put him down for the morning nap next time (he only goes one day a week). I just selfishly really need that time to myself. Having one day a week for 6 hours is like my new heaven! I think he’s just going to have to stick it out again and I’ll pray he does better next time.
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About Kyler’s Mommy
Hello! I am 31 yrs old and stay at home with my one year old son, Kyler. After giving birth, I suffered from moderate postpartum depression. My son was born a few weeks early and had a few minor issues early on (colic, herniated belly button, breastmilk jaundice). He is now a beautiful one year old on the move!!! He has a speech delay at the moment that we are beginning to treat with weekly therapy. During Kyler’s first year of life, we made two residential moves including one across the country.
I wish that I had started this blog much earlier; however, I am still going to write about the issues that we faced early on and those that we struggle with today. Postpartum depression is something that I would like to write about for my own healing as well as to help others. The everyday life with a toddler is comedic and chaotic…so I feel I must blog about it if for nothing else but to remember it. Bare with me and my posts because I have a lot of catching up to do and many stories to tell!!
EDIT: Over the past few months since starting this blog, we have come to the realization that our child is not JUST speech delayed. Unfortunately, he shows most signs of autism. He has not been diagnosed. Although I really wanted to focus this blog on postpartum depression, it seems so pale in comparison to the struggles and pains that my son suffers daily. So, I will be focusing on his journey and his path to recovery. I do hope, however, that anyone with postpartum depression will find some relief or laughter in my earlier posts and know that you are not alone.
