Sooooo, Noah and I have been having somewhat of a rough summer. It began with The Move (including morning sickness and 1 yr molars), followed shortly by Hand Foot Mouth Hell, then enter the Terrible Twos (6 mths early), throw in a little Pottytraining, and top it all of with 2 yr Molars. Wow, it’s no wonder we have been having a hard time. Hell, I’m surprised we have survived up to this point!
All of this has made it very evident that I am going to need some kind of help once Bryce gets here. We don’t have much family here and therefore very little support. The family we do have has 3 yr old twins, so I think they have enough on their plate!! 🙂 Being a second child myself it is VERY important to me that Bryce get as much of the attention and quality time that Noah was lucky enough to have received being the first child. Obviously, being a stay at home mom with one kid is pretty much a full time job, having two kids 2 years old and under is going to definitely push me to my limits and beyond and prevent me from giving Bryce the individualized attention I would like to give him. So I have determined that I need help.
My answer to this conundrum?? A mothers morning out program. This was definitely not a decision that was easily agreed too. Both my sister and I were in a similar type of program, although they didn’t call it that, when we were little because my mother worked from home. She felt this was a great way for us to be able to socialize with other kids and for her to be able to get some work done. Eric wasn’t as familiar with the concept. So after much research and weighing all the pros and cons we have decided that it is definitely what’s best for this family. I think Eric still has some reservations, but we both agree that we will just see how it goes. If Noah thrives while participating in the program then he will stay in it, if not then we will go back to the drawing board and explore other options.
You might be wondering what we consider to be pros and cons. I don’t believe there is anything earth shattering, but I will share them with you all the same.
Pros:
- Socialize with children his age
- Structured playtime and activities
- Individual time with Bryce
- Less Stress/Anxiety = Better Mom
Cons:
- Get sick more frequently
- Pickup bad behaviors
- Overall Safety
- Bring germs home to Bryce
It’s not that we have determined the cons to be unimportant, it’s more a matter of lets wait and see. Obviously if Noah’s behavior changes dramatically or he begins to get sick a lot, then we will have to rethink this.
After much research I found that the church we are considering joining, which was recommended by our pastor in Jacksonville, has a mothers morning out program. We have chosen for him to attend two days a week from 9-1. That means we have 7 1/2 weeks until Bryce gets here and I think that is plenty of time for him to get used to going to “school.” So, since time is of the essence, Noah started today!! Hurray, and look at how excited my big boy was. 🙂 As was expected he cried a little when I went to leave, but one of the workers walked him over to a table full of toys and he had stopped before I even made it out of the door.
All of this means that for the next 6-7 weeks I am going to get 8 hours per week of alone time. Do ya’ll understand how awesome this is!!!?? I will be able to grocery shop alone if I want to, run errands without a fussy child in the backseat, maybe even go to Starbucks and work on this blog. Holy crap, I won’t know what to do with myself! Today I was able to go to my doctors appointment and actually focus on talking to the doctor about my pregnancy and any questions I may have. See! Bryce is already getting some of that individualized attention I was referring too! 🙂
And there are more positives for Noah too. I was so excited to pick him up!! It may sound horrible, but this is the first time in a long time that I have been really excited to see him. Don’t get me wrong, I am completely madly deeply in love with my child. BUT, when you spend all day everyday with your child, you lose some of that excitement. I remember when he was really little I couldn’t wait for him to wake up from his nap so I could hold him. Once he got wiggly and wouldn’t cuddle I would go in to his room in the middle of the night and pick him up and rock him. I haven’t felt like that in ages, and I finally have begun to feel that again. I think just that little bit of space is going to wonders for both of us!
When I got there he was sitting in the lap of one of the workers but he wasn’t crying. I knew exactly what that meant. I had arrived about 10 minutes early because I knew once parents started picking up their kids he was going to start wondering where I was, and sure enough there were already parents there! They said he cried a few times throughout the day, but never for very long and it always had to do with someone coming in the door. I figure, next week I will show up 30 minutes early and just make sure I’m the first or at least second parent there. I think once he gets the hang of it, this shouldn’t be a long term problem. But as with all of this, we will just have to wait and see.
I am truly making it all up as I go along. Glad you guys can join me for the ride!!
-Tracy (I’m 32 weeks pregnant and Noah is 19 months old)
**As a small aside, being that we are a 1-worker household, it is my goal to get this blog to make some money to help support this decision. I actually have my first sponsored post coming soon!! I didn’t actually get paid for it or anything, but they will be providing a great giveaway for one of you guys!! I just wanted to let ya’ll know that I am focusing on working with brands and you may start to see posts that reflect that. PLEASE understand that my decision to do this will in no way affect my opinions on products and services that I may recommend. I am mainly looking for things that I already use or have been interested in trying. I PROMISE to be completely honest in my reviews and disclose all details to you guys. So wish me luck!!!