As usual I have been in the Christmas spirit since the beginning of December, and this year Ava is 2 years old, a great age for this wonderful holiday. Hailey is 2 months old, trying to hold her head up, and more aware of the world around her, who couldn't be happy.
Well, the holiday spirit left me for about 2 days this past weekend, when our sitter dropped a bombshell. She was giving notice. After 2 years of watching my precious little girl, she has decided to do something different. Hailey has just become part of the group.Ava has been with the same 2 little kids her tiny little existence on this planet. She has come to love them very much and is really comfortable with them. In a 2 year olds world, there are a few things that matter and I think consistency is one of them. We do the same routine just about every day of the week; we wake up about the same time, do the same things, and then leave at the same time. Ava knows she only gets to watch so much of her cartoons, although some mornings she is a little hard headed about leaving on time.
So Friday, I drop of the girls, business as usual, and she hits me with 'An offer she couldn't refuse'. So our world is rocked, we weren't prepared for this at all. Do you know how freaking hard it is to find private care at a reasonable rate with people you trust?? There is no option for me to stay at home, so I need to have someone that I can trust with my kids for 9 hours a day.So while part of me is saying 'Yay for her, the opportunity must have been great one and I really want her to succeed', the other part is aching for my 2 year old who loves going to daycare and loves the people she is around all day. How do you explain to a child, you won't be going there anymore?? How to make her understand that this is no longer a place that will be steady in your life? 'You don't', is what my husband texted me back when I asked him these questions as I balled my eyes out at work.
As shocking as this change is, I do have to say I was suspicious. Why do you ask? Because months ago, she had to make arrangements for Ava to be picked up early because an appointment suddenly came up. I have been in the working field for over 10 years and am working at my 8th job. I have used the 'an appointment came up' several times to interview somewhere else. It's like the number one excuse to use to get out of work and try to do something else. We have all used it at one time or another. But I haven't heard that excuse for months now so I thought it was all behind us. WRONG!!!
So now my husband and I are working with our family and the other kid's parents to find a great private sitter, and trying to keep the kids together. I don't know if it's going to work or not. So a week before Christmas I am trying to take care of something bigger than the holiday and just really not in the mood for it all. I want my kids to have a second home with someone they love to spend time with. Ava will probably be fine, Hailey of course has no clue right now. I am hoping to find somewhere with kids around her age, especially if the kids she is with now must go to other places and they cannot stick together. I am told this will be harder all around on me than it will be on her. I pray everyone is right about this and Ava just rolls with the change and thrives with it.