Parenthood

The first day when my son went to the daycare was a total disaster. I am not sure who suffered the most as he cried all day and I cried with him, too. Although the thought of leaving my child was terrifying and heartbreaking, I knew I had no other choice. Moreover, one year of maternity leave was almost finished and I had to go back to work and earn money.

That day was meant to be a big first step towards his independence. I guess I didn't handle things very well even though I walked into the daycare with a big smile, pretending that I am excited. I held my son into my arms telling him that everything is going to be okay. In my mind there were only a few words like “smile and stay calm and then walk out.”

Honestly, I couldn't walk out because the separation from my child even for a few hours that first day at the daycare was so emotional and stressful as well. Furthermore, I felt guilty and I probably looked like any nervous and anxious parent while trying to leave their child at the daycare for the first time.

After a few days, my son became a child who walked into the daycare without even a backwards glance. Surprisingly, he very soon got used to being without me. I am sure it was also helpful that we had a lot of contact with friends and relatives and we had visitors at our home almost every day. My son got used to feeling comfortable around people and he wasn't a shy child anymore.

Two weeks later, I got an important phone call about an emergency situation at the daycare: two children were missing. Those two children were my son and his friend. They wanted to surprise their teacher and they had a genius plan to hide into a small storage space for shoes. They were having fun while all the staff were looking for them. It was not easy to find them because it was a huge building and there were more than a hundred children in it. Actually, it took a long time to find the two boys. That day all teachers in the daycare were exhausted.

I rushed to pick up my child as soon as possible that day, but it took a while as I was working in a different town. I apologized to all staff at the daycare and promised I will talk to my son about this situation. I also promised that it will never happen again. When I saw my son, I couldn't help it and I gave him a big hug. We were laughing and looking at each other as we were walking out. That day, the teacher wasn't smiling at us as usual, but I knew exactly why. When I asked my son how his day was he answered: “It was super fun... but mom...my teacher cried, I don't know why?” The same day at home, we had a really long conversation like two adults, the 31-year old me and my 13-month old son.