Daycare

Not sure what is going on with Boy B, but in the last week, there has been major regression in his behavior? Nothing has really changed, but something is going on.

I’ve noticed that once again, little things are setting him off. He is constantly talking about how anxious he is and how frustrated he is getting. I have analyzed his schedule and the surrounding factors and nothing makes sense. The only variable, was that my wife was gone for 6 days and that is the only change in his schedule.

His eating and sleeping has been on schedule, day care, etc have to. But this week has been rough. He has been out of sorts and has been hard to deal with at day care. These are the moments of frustration for me as a parent. These are the times that I try analyze the thought process of a child and their thinking. And the reality is, there is no logic.

As a parent, especially those of us with children that have issues or whatever label you chose to place on them, it is hard. I feel that I have to always adapt and that I have to always analyze his moods and behaviors.  I really feel that we started to turn the corner and getting things on track. But he has really had a major step back with this regression with his behavior.

Prior to my son starting OT and seeing a child psychologist, he would scream and yell and jump up and down when he did not get his way. He would loose control in a second. As we started working on certain things, specifically fine motor skills in OT and he was on a routine with the child psychologist, things got better. We say immediate results and transformations.

So, when things get off course like this past week, it really makes it hard and then you add on top of that, my wife was in a serious car accident this week as well.  Life has been hard and parenting is hard work too and sometimes it just doesn’t all make sense.  But I really hope that we can get to the bottom of this regression and turn it around because with everything else going on, I really hope to get it together.

 

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A phrase that I hate to use before the end of the year, before Christmas, etc. but this last week has been a rough stretch for us. The end of the year is crunch time for all of us, work, play, etc. But this past week has been especially rough, because the oldest has been going through night terrors again.

We’ve had a lot of changes between daycare and adjustments with schedules, etc. But the last few nights have been hard, because there isn’t much that I can pin point and directly say, yeah, that is causing the night terrors. Sure, maybe off his schedule and exhausted, that could definitely be an issue. His eating was ok, mostly fruit and a slice of pizza, so not a huge amount of sugar. Growing? Maybe?

But here is what I did realize this morning around 2:00 A.M., it doesn’t matter. We all go through a rough stretch from time to time. And even though he is having these night terrors, he doesn’t remember them in the morning, though he did say that he didn’t sleep well last night. But all in all, I really don’t think that he has any concept of what is going on. And, the other realization that I had, is that there isn’t a lot of solid advice on what to do either to resolve it. There were suggestions, some we’ve tried, some I discredit based on conversations with our pediatrician and a family friend that is a psychologist.

So tonight, a new routine, not exact, but I think that it will be close.

  1. Dinner by 7 p.m. (usually they were eating around 7:30 p.m.) and no tv.
  2. Cleanup the living room and watch 2 quick YouTube videos of Puff the Magic Dragon and Rainbow Connection.
  3. Bath by 8 p.m.
  4. Ready for bed and quiet time by 8:30 p.m.

Here is my logic. The boys are more active now and playing harder at daycare, thus they are getting exhausted quicker. We were letting the boys watch 4 YouTube videos and though I am not thinking that this is the issue that is triggering the night terrors, it is better safe than sorry to just make several changes, all at once. And finally, quiet time before bed, this will consist more of stories that I read and/or make up and tell them, as my father did for me.

I have no clue if this is going to work or not, but 3 nights in a row of sleeping sitting up in a recliner is paying its toll on me and I really need some sleep. Rough stretch, sure, it hasn’t been the easiest, but this year, as I reflect on the year, we’ve had a good year and more to come on that in a future post next week. But all in all, our rough stretch is just a part of being a parent. Just when you think that you’ve got things figured out, something changes and there may or may not be a reason for it, but you have to roll with it.

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Week 1 is now officially over at the new daycare and the boys absolutely love it. They have done awesome there and it has definitely been a change, but a positive one.

We have definitely started a solid routine with the boys and one that will only continue to prepare them for kindergarten next year. Each morning now, we wake them up a little earlier and get them feed breakfast and double check their lunches to make sure that they are still good with their food. And we get them out the door now, most days by 7:30 – 8:00 am. ( Our old daycare provided breakfast and lunch, so our mornings were a little less structured and in some regards, easier.)

Now, we get the boys to help pick and pack their lunches and help us out each day. So, week 1 is over and we have survived and the boys have had a blast.

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Today marked a new day in the life of not only my boys, but mine as a father.  Today, the boys started a new daycare. And for those that missed out on that story, you can read part of it here, as since the majority of that story is personal and private for the daycare provider.

But over the weekend, we took the boys to get a lunch box and last night we got them to help us pack their lunch for today and they were beyond excited. I really think that just simple as simple as letting them help pack their lunch, made a HUGE difference in the transition of the new daycare/pre-K school. And then this morning, both boys were up early, they dressed themselves and were ready to leave, well before I had my first cup of coffee and the entire time, I kept wondering if the shoe was going to drop and one or both were going to freak out.

Around 8am this morning, we made the 3 mile drive, went in and got them checked in, talked with their teacher and the boys actually hugged us and told us to leave. I was tearing up and they are kicking us out the door. A new day in the lives of our boys. Today they walked into a new daycare/school for the first time and immediately started making new friends. My whole day, I’ve been on pins and needles waiting to hear how the day went.

A new day is coming to an end and another first is behind us. This new daycare is really going to prepare the boys for kindergarten, help them learn how to write and both boys are starting to show a interest in learning how to read. Our last daycare was an in home and we all loved the that environment and the lady that took care of our sons and we are very grateful for the time that we had with her. We are also very sad that she was shut down and especially for the reasons that it lead up to it. But we are also hopeful that this new daycare will prepare the boys and give them a head start to their next year in school.

Today, was a new day.

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Being a parents often times requires us to pivot a lot. Pivot quick and often and at a moments notice. Last night, we had to pivot and we are still trying t figure out our next move.

Yesterday at the end of the day, we were informed that the state shut down our daycare. No notice. Nothing. My wife was scheduled to go out of town and I was going to have to figure all of this out on my own. Work. Daycare. Pivot.

I had to quickly figure out my schedule, plan on working from home, contact the state, get a list of possible alternative daycare providers, etc. And somehow, explain to  the boys that we had to change providers, again, but that they were going to make a lot of new friends. Difficult few hours, absolutely.

Last night, I got the boys together and my wife and I sat down and figured out a game plan. We cancelled her trip, I got the basketball game on and just drifted away from life for a few hours. This morning, I started working and also reaching out to other providers and forgot how intense it was going through this process.

Life is full of challenges. Full of changes. Full of times where we have to pivot and change directions at the drop of the hat. But we have to do this for the benefit of our children and we have to do it, because being a parent, things change in a moments notice.

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