Baby Pham started childcare two weeks before I went back to work so we could have as smooth a transition as possible. We did four weekly stay-and-play visits in the nursery of our childcare in the lead-up to the big day.
On the first day, he screamed his lungs out at drop-off - I sat in the car park on the other end of the complex and cried because I could hear him wailing for me even from that distance. I had to pull myself together to drive home, where I spent a half-day doing a spring clean of all the clutter that had accumulated over the past few years. I thought day one would be the toughest - I was wrong.
Our childcare transition plan went to shit pretty quickly. Baby Pham had two short days at childcare before he came down with Hand, Foot, Mouth (from a 1st birthday party, not the childcare centre). He missed a week, and then suddenly I was back at work, and Boyfriend Pham had a new starter in his team so I was juggling drop-off and pick-up and adjusting to the jarring quiet of an office after spending a year with a babbling, bundle of joy.
Like all things Baby, it's daunting to think about, but once you're in the thick of the childcare transition and return to work, you focus on what's important and forget the rest. It helps that Baby Pham is a resilient, securely attached little man, so he makes parenting very easy.
I was dreading the childcare transition six months before we started. I would hold Baby Pham close and wonder how I could be apart from my beautiful boy. Two months out from start I would randomly picture us apart and cry. One month out, I realised Baby Pham was ready for this next stage - by 10 months, he was super curious and exploring every space, object and interacting with all sorts of new people. He was confident and happy to go off on his own, only looking back to check in with me before venturing further. He was especially drawn to other kids.
If we'd had to start him in childcare any younger, I don't think my heart could have handled it. But by 11 months, he needed more than exploring playgrounds and jungle gyms with mum or dad. He wanted to engage with other children and adults. He'd shifted from mumma's boy to clinging to dad whenever Boyfriend Pham was available. He'd ditch me for Little Sissy Pham whenever we had playdates, just like Nephew Pham used to ditch her for me whenever I was around. One of my goals as a parent is to ensure Baby Pham is as independent as he's ready to be. I'd succeeded. He's somewhat settled into childcare already after three weeks. He was upset in the car on the way home the first week, by the third week he was laughing and smiling on the way home.
[August update: I wrote this back in March. Baby Pham LOVES childcare. He misses it when he's away with illness, and rarely looks at me at drop-off. He's too busy playing with his favourite educators, toys and friends to even wave good-bye.]
