Well, the kids started a new in-home daycare on August 25th.
It has been one hell of a month for Brad and I. I’ve taken some time off of
blogging because of what was going on in our lives. But this blog is for us- to
capture our moments, the good and the bad. I’m happy to share it with you, but
this is our digital scrapbook, our avenue to share our life and to recap what
has gone on.
The past 8 weeks have been difficult for us- there have been
moments, actions and words that have hurt us deeply. We are working hard on
trying to heal, but, for me at least, I still struggle. I can’t speak for Brad.
We deal with things differently.
One of the things that we have dealt with is losing our
amazing Nanny, Mandie. We never wanted to lose Mandie. We never wanted our kids
to not see her every day. At times, we often wonder how we even got to this
point. It started out as Brad and I being concerned about our kids and then
seem to spiral out of control. No one saw eye-to-eye on anything and the result
was us having to leave Mandie.
We are so blessed to have had Mandie raise our kids the past
two years- she was the best thing for them when they were just babies! We absolutely
love her- she became family to us. We miss seeing her every day.
But, there is light at the end of this tunnel. We found an
in-home daycare. Just three blocks down the road from us. A co-worker, who knew
of our situation, found a posting of our new school and sent me the
information. I called right away and set up a meeting to visit. Tracey came
with me to interview and we both walked away feeling very good about the
daycare and Miss Sandra who ran it. Brad and I went two days later with the
kiddos and sealed the deal.
When I first interviewed with Miss Sandra, she was
comforting ME about our situation. She had made me feel better about
everything. I knew she was the perfect fit if she could comfort me- she would
be the best comfort to Sage and Evan.
It’s been 4 weeks since we started with Miss Sandra. The
first 3 weeks were extremely rough. Lots of tears. LOTS. It was a huge
transition for us. Everything changed. Everything! Each part of the kids day
was different. Even when they were home, we were developing a new routine. Each
day was hard. And I think it broke us more than the kids.
But today- today there are no more tears. Today, we wake up
and start our morning routine. Each part of their day seems to be a routine.
They know what is coming next. And Sage and Evan do everything together. They
are excited to go see Miss Sandra and their friends. They run to the car- not
kidding!
It’s glorious!! They are thriving!
This was not the direction we ever wanted to go, but I’m a
true believe that “Everything happens for a reason”. We hated going through it, but we knew there
was a reason. Right now, I can see a “reason” and I’m sure I’ll see many more “reasons”
as the years go by. I can already see a difference in Sage and Evan. She is
more outgoing, she loves playing with all the kids and talks to anyone she
meets. Evan is doing everything on his own (he’s tooo young to be a little
boy!!) and he is talking so much more and even tries to sing when Sage sings J
I’m also thankful for the support we got from our family. My
mom and dad both calling to check in on us and how the kids were doing in those
first several days and weeks was comforting to Brad and I. And Mandie who was
always checking up on the kiddos. And so thankful for Tracey who was there to
help us talk through the ideas of a daycare school setting for the kids and
interviewing with me! Getting feedback from her being a teacher was so
important and really helped us make the right decision!
And I’m not sure how I would have gotten through every day
without Alicia, who checked in with me, who answered my phone calls every day
and even let me come over a few times to cry on her shoulder.
This experience has definitely stretched Brad and I in our
parenting, among other things. I’m thankful that we’ve remained united and
agreed on every situation we are dealing with.
We’ve enjoyed this time that we spent just focusing on us,
the kids and getting priorities in order!
