Ode to Surreybrook

Here's my question for you: Am I the only one whose kid cries when it is time to leave daycare?

I'm not sure how much I've said about our daycare in the past, but essentially we love it. From the moment we first walked in when Ella was just a lump in my belly, we loved it. The bright colors, open floor plan, ample playground, everything. Sometimes you just know and when we walked into this place we just knew, ya know?

Six months later when I actually had to leave Ella there for the first time I was petrified. Not because I didn't think Ella would want to stay, but because I thought I might get back and find her teachers holding her in the parking lot with outstretched arms telling me to leave the premises and never come back. Up to that point, I'd been spending my days nursing and walking around the block for hours at a time. I knew her teachers wouldn't be able to do either of those things, so how would they get her to stop crying? Then we met the magical Miss Amanda and it was love at first sight. Somehow Amanda taught her how to take a nap (in a crib no less!) and learn how to enjoy life outside of someone's arms. They actually taught her how to be on a schedule and undid most of the bad habits I'd instilled.

These days she balances her time between the bumblebee and beetle rooms and regularly talks about Miss Shauna and Miss Marcia and how much she loves them. Cut to today when I went to pick her up. She was sitting gingerly at the table waiting for one of her teachers to pass out the foam dough. She gave me a quick glance and a "hi mom" before turning her attention back to what was really important. When given a choice between foam or mommy, this girl chooses foam. I tried to coax her gently, but she was having none of it. As I pulled her out of her chair she began to cry. Miss Meghan tried to appease her with a special treat, but to no avail. As I latched her unwilling body into her car seat, she just kept repeating "want Shauna, want Shauna." She didn't stop crying until we were halfway home and, I suppose, realized her protests were futile.

Once she got over the devastation, we had a lovely evening of tickling, chasing, laughing, and other silliness. I guess she realized that while I am no foam, I'm still pretty awesome.

So I guess thanks Surreybrook for making my kid so happy she wants nothing to do with me.