A Necessity to Survive Turned Into A New Family

You know you made a good choice when your kids are happy and look forward to going to daycare.  None the less it’s hard when you’re working all the time, you still feel neglectful.  The school my girls had the good fortune to attend offered several extra curricular activities onsite (tumble, dance, basketball, karate) for an extra $ of course.  And music came with our tuition.  All these activities were on site which meant no driving around.  I didn’t fully appreciate this until my older girl was in kindergarten and I was driving her all over town for her activities.   At one time or another my girls had the opportunity to enjoy each of these activities and the skills they learned was impressive.  My four year old can dribble a ball really quite well and knows the correct hand placement on the ball when shooting it.  She can also choreograph her own dances with confidence.

Then comes the decision to end our time at daycare.  I’m not working now and no longer looking for work, so it doesn’t make sense to keep her in.  First I reduced her hours, then came her last week.  We had a little party, she took pictures with all her teachers over the years.

When it came time to say goodbye, it was hard.  We promised to come back and visit, at least through the summer, but it still felt like we were leaving family.  I had feelings of guilt for pulling my baby out of school and away from her amazing teachers.

I had to say to myself “hey wait a minute, she’s my kiddo, and this is the right decision for our family.”  But that doesn’t make it any easier.

We are so grateful for all she’s learned and everyone she’s met and we hope to stay in touch over the years to come.

I even got  a copy of the summer camp schedule so we can “pop in” on field trips for my older daughter.  Although she hasn’t gone to the daycare full-time in two years, she was there last summer for camp and during the holidays when school was out.  She’s made some great friends along the way too.

Closing the door on each little chapter in life, as hard as it is, is a necessity.  We take with us on the next chapter friendship and insights.

Toodles!!!