Today was Evie's first day of Mother's Day Out. It's like daycare, but only for certain hours. Evie goes Mondays only from 9am to 2:30pm. It's held in a church with 6 other babies (6mo-18mo.) and 2 teachers. So, like I said, today was day 1. When I made it to the church I was anxious about how the drop off was going to go since Evie can be quite vocal about not wanting someone else to hold her if I'm there. However, the anticipation was much worse than the reality. In reality, I wish she cared just a little more! Hahahaha! I'm actually kidding. For real. She did great. I just handed her over to the teacher while we were talking and she was looking at everything else going on, I said "I love you" and walked away. No tears. It was actually kind of amazing. I needed to fill out some paperwork so I walked back to her room to peek in on her and she was playing with a toy, the teacher and another kid was sitting right by her. Still no tears. And, just a few from me. Until I got in the car and was driving away and realized I was home free for 5 hours! Then they were tears of joy! I'm only partially kidding. I didn't cry tears of joy, but I did look like a complete moron driving down the road with a huge smile on my face. It was so big I felt like I should take out my cell phone so people would think I got some happy news or something instead of just smiling alone in the car!
One thing I've learned about being a mom is that it is, by far, the greatest "job" on earth. I have never woken up and said, "Ugh...I have to hang out with Evie all day today. That sucks," or "Damn...I have to get that smiling baby up in the morning." I have found that I don't miss being at work like I thought I would; I feel like I actually do something meaningful with my day instead of spending it wishing I was anywhere else but at work. I have also found that it is the hardest job on earth. Seriously. It's not the "tasks"-- those are pretty simple. More than anything, they require patience. But the thing that's hard is they never end. Nope. Never. Vacation? Baby still needs a diaper change. Weekend? Baby still gets up way too early. Middle of the night? Baby may be scared, hungry or not tired--they don't care that it's a Tuesday or a Friday and Mom and Dad thought they'd live on the edge and go to bed at 11pm instead of 9pm! So, in light of these "mom" requirements--I needed a little bit of a break. Five hours every Monday should about do it!
Evie did great at her first Mother's Day Out and I did pretty darn good too!
