update on childcare.

First of all, I want to send out a big (belated) thank you go everyone who gave me advice after my post about our childcare situation. I've been hesitant to give an update because I didn't want to jinx anything, but after a couple of amazing weeks with the nanny, I'm pretty confident that we've moved past the difficulties.

What REALLY helped the situation was a change in weather. We had a very rainy spring that made getting outside really difficult. As the weather has warmed and cleared up, the nanny was able to start taking Kale outside more. Since Kale has a serious obsession with the outdoors, he could care less who is taking him out, as long as he's out there. That solved some of the struggles that were happening throughout the day, but Kale was still getting super upset when it was time for me go.

The nanny told me that Kale cries way longer when he see's me go upstairs to my office opposed to when I actually leave out the front door, so we tried a new strategy. When she arrived, the three of us would spend a bit of time together and then I would say goodbye, head out for a coffee and by the time I got back, they would be out at the park. This worked really well - except for the fact that I was having to do this twice a day (once in the morning and then once after lunch) and each time it took about 30 minutes for me to say goodbye, get the coffee, come home and settle back in at my desk. Which meant that I was pretty much paying the nanny for an hour where I wasn't getting any work done. Since I shorten my workday when she's here, losing an hour was pretty significant.

Regardless, we stuck with it for a couple weeks and it seemed to make the goodbye's easier on everyone. As the nanny got more comfortable with Kale she started taking him more places. She would take him to the library for a toddler program and to the Early Years Centre. Kale was loving the adventures and he started to associate her showing up with good times.

After a few good days, I tried slipping away to my office upstairs without saying goodbye or leaving out the front door. Magically, there were no tears. Despite every book telling me to make sure that Kale watches me leave and that we keep a consistent goodbye routine, he really didn't seem bothered by me slipping away.

This week when she came, Kale was still a bit shy but warmed to her quickly. One morning I had to leave for a meeting and he walked me to the door and happily waved goodbye. Amazing, right? Today when I got home the two of them were napping on the couch with Kale sprawled on top of her. Melted my heart.

Today when she was leaving she commented that things had been really good that week and he hadn't cried at all. I could sense her relief and I'm sure she could sense mine. I am so happy that things turned around and worked out for us.

"My name is Kale and I survived the transition to childcare."