Katie went back to day care for the first time in eight weeks yesterday. She was excited to get back to other kids. We were excited to give her that little bit of normalcy. Her day care provider was excited to get her back, and all of the kids at day care were excited. The only problem was reality.
Katie woke up Monday morning, ready to go. She got dressed, ate breakfast and brushed her teeth with no problems. But as it got closer and closer to the time we had to leave, she started feeling less and less well. She had been awake for about an hour and she had already burned up most of her energy and her breakfast wasn't sitting well. We dropped her off at day care anyway, but you could tell that her excitement had faded. Not long after, we got a call from day care. Everyone's excitement had faded. Katie was not feeling well, and she was grumpy and uncooperative. The kids wanted to play with her, but she didn't want to play. The day care provider was disappointed and worried. We were saddened. We had all hoped that everything would be okay and her return to day care would be this miraculous return to the life she was living before she got sick again. It didn't happen that way, and we should have known better; but it was easy to hope for the best and believe that it would happen.
Today, she went back to day care, but with more realistic expectations. She knew she wasn't feeling her best. The kids knew that she might not play with them. Her day care provider knew that she might not cooperate or be in the best of moods, and we knew that the triumphant return had been a bit of a let down for all of us. However, with that reality check firmly established, we carried on with our plans and hoped that today would at least be a little better than yesterday. It was.
Katie got through her day just fine. She was a little low on energy and wanted to lay around more than she used to at daycare, but she has been laying around for eight weeks. It is going to take some time to get her energy levels and stamina back up. She was less grumpy today and more cooperative as well. All-in-all, it was a good day. The only down side - one of the other kids shows signs of pink eye but he hasn't seen a doctor yet. Ah the joys of day care.
1 comment:
Poor Katie,
It must be so hard for her not to be able to play, but she will get there I am sure.. Don't ya just love pink eye, it spreads faster than wild fires. that is one think I could just flip out shen someone has it then we ALL get it, but oh well life goes on right! wish I was closer so I could help you all out..
Post a Comment