You take the good, you take the bad...

This week has definitely been an emotional roller coaster. Really, I don't know how else to describe it. There have been a lot of bittersweet moments coming one after the other. Like the trip to Kokomo. Saying goodbye to Nana was one of the hardest things I've done, but getting to spend time with a part of the family that we don't see nearly enough was wonderful. Here's a photo (click on it to enlarge) of Josie with her cousins - Kinley, Daire, Arielle, Sydney & Madison- I hope Josie turns out just as sweet, adorable, smart, and funny as each of these girls. She had so much fun with them! And it's so funny that I remember when they were all Josie's age! In other bittersweet news, today was Josie's first day at day care. Well, let me clarify that. It was Josie's first and last day at day care. I won't go into too much detail here other than to say that we really did give it an honest try. Here's Louie heading in. At this point, we were both having reservations (especially after some of the things we observed last week during our transistion visits), but we decided to give it a shot (even though I think both of us knew in our hearts that it wasn't the best idea).
Here's Josie playing with some of her new friends. Unfortunately, this is how Josie would spend most all of her day at the center. We observed very little interaction with the adults & what we did see definitely lacked the degree of nurturing, responsiveness, and stimulation that we would expect (and that Josie is used to).
This picture really does say it all. Poor Josie in her day care crib - no frills - just bars. She even has her hands clasped around the bar like a little prisoner. Poor thing. :(
So after several phone calls & a couple of visits, all to find Josie crying (and no one hugging or soothing her to calm her down), I plucked little Josie off of her spot on that carpet remnant, squeezed her tight, and raced her home.

I don't want to totally bad mouth the center, but it just wasn't right for us. If my number one job as a parent is to do what is best for Josie, then I would've been failing miserably if I decided to keep her there - even for only 2 1/2 days a week. Because the way I see it, I can sit Josie on the carpet and ignore her all day right here in my own home & save myself $220 a week! So, the decision has been made and the steps are already in place to have someone come and watch Josie in our home - with her toys, her crib, her germs and most importantly - her mama! :)

You may be asking yourself what the "sweet" part was of this whole day care mess. I guess the best way to describe it is the joy of knowing that we did the right thing today. Really, we should've trusted our instincts all along. But I guess we had to just prove to ourselves that we weren't just being stubborn. After what I saw today, there is no doubt in my mind that we made the right decision.

The last bittersweet thing was my birthday on Saturday. 31 - ugh! Saying that out loud will leave a bitter taste in your mouth for sure. But, what could be sweeter than celebrating a birthday with the perfect husband and our perfect daughter? Absolutely nothing!

With that, I hope you are all doing well. Thanks for all of the thoughts, prayers, and kind words about the loss of my Nana. I am so blessed to have such amazing friends!