Daycare Attempt #2

Well....over the past few weeks Kassidy's separation anxiety with me has just been getting worse and worse. At Bible class and gymnastic class, she always wants me holding her, touching her, standing right beside her, etc. So I decided to once again try once or twice a week taking her to a daycare IF I could find the RIGHT one. Finding the right daycare that both Kassidy and I felt comfortable with was the hardest thing. I called and inquired about several and then talked on the phone with the director of one for about half an hour on Monday evening and then Kassidy and I went and visited it on Tuesday. This daycare is run by a church and is much, much smaller (not only in building wise but students also). The last daycare we tried was on Fort Bragg military base. Although it was nice and structured and not to mention so many hours of childcare were free while Billy was deployed, but it was not a good fit. There were so many students and employees that it made it so less personable than the one today. When I dropped her off there she was absolutely lost with no adult coming to console her so after watching her cry for quite awhile outside at the door with no one paying any mind, I went back in and got her and vowed to never try again. But as the time has passed I see that maybe I should try again but just research for a better fit. The director of the daycare was so nice and listened to all of my concerns. She showed us around the center and we talked to all the teachers in each class. There are a max of 6 students in Kassidy's class as compared to 40 in the other daycare. Did she cry???? Yes of course but the teacher said she only cried when I left and at naptime. I was concerned with naptime because she is picky about sleeping in her own bed but I hope she can get used to the routine and that will not be an issue in the future. She even gave the teacher a kiss goodbye. Her teacher has her own little girl in the class and she said that the little girl held Kassidy's hand and walked her around all day so I thought that was cute. Several of the teachers suggested I try to at least take her twice a week for the next 3 to 4 weeks instead of once again so as not to have her get out of touch again with it and have to feel like she is starting again from day one so we will see how we can fit her into the schedule. There are usually 6 kids right now in her class most days which is the max right now that they are wanting so we will just call ahead to see if someone does not show up for a day or call ahead to see if there is one scheduled out for a particular day of the week and we will try to get her in those days. She definitely was tired when she left without having a nap and slept on the way home in the car but I really hope she had fun and that next time we go she doesn't go into meltdown mode because she will then know that I will be leaving her there. We will see how it goes though. Keep us in your prayers because this is hard for me and her but I think we both need this. Lately she is going through a lot of changes with both gymnastics and now daycare so I hope these will turn out to be positive things and help her social skills and help her realize that she can be away from me for a few hours and that I will come back to get her. I am going to call the director again tomorrow and talk about the upcoming schedules so I will keep you informed. Keep your fingers crossed for a positive outcome. I am attaching a few pics. One is just a few in her checkered outfit right before she went to daycare and others are of her playing with her toy dog and opening a dress that mimi and pop pop sent to her. We have our post placement home study on Wednesday and then after that this whole adoption process will be over. From start to finish it was over 4 years. I am so ready to not have to do anymore paperwork, social worker visits, or anything else but it was all worth it and we love her and would do whatever we have to do to have her in our life. Enjoy the pics and we will try to post more of gymnastics and possibly her new friends at daycare eventually.