The Daycare Conundrum

As many of you know, I am a working mom. I am proud and lucky to have a full-time job that helps provide for my family. I enjoy working.

Now that I’ve said that – I also reeeeeeeaaaallllllllllllyyy miss my kids. Really.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. We should celebrate our mothers everyday, but since we often forget to do that, we set aside a day to really celebrate them. My husband got me chocolate, so I guess he’s telling me that he doesn’t mind how fat I’ve gotten. Or something.

Anyway, yesterday was great – being celebrated, having my kids around me, getting lots of baby kisses – but all of that just made today even worse.

Today, was the first day I had to leave Birdy at daycare.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we have a fantastic daycare. They are warm, loving and I know Birdy will be in great hands. But, they won’t be my hands. Truth be told, I’ve been back to work for about three weeks now, but Birdy has been with my mom, so that’s almost like my hands.

This morning, I thought I was fine. I dropped both kids off at daycare. I gave them both the acceptable amount of kisses (OK, maybe a few more than is generally acceptable) and I headed back to the minivan to get myself to work.

Then, as I settled into my comfortable minivan seat, it hit me. Birdy is now in daycare. This ends a part of her life when she was only cared for at home. Now she is being cared for by someone who is not related. And, wow, I really wanted to be able to stay with her all day!

Tears, mucus, blubbering … if you are a mom and have left your kids even for a few hours, you know how this all played out.

It’s a conundrum for sure. We want to do all these things, but we need money to do all these things, so we need to work to do all these things, so we leave our kids at daycare to do all these things, but we really, really miss our kids. It’s just part of being a working mom. Some days are hard, but other days are easy. Tomorrow is another day.

Thanks for listening.