Saying Goodbye

I don't know if it's the crazy work week or the crazy to-do list for the party count-down, or just plain me being hormonal but yesterday was a really sad day. It was Moira's last day at her Preschool. I took her in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon. Her teachers and the director were all aware, but it didn't make it any less... well heartbreaking. I almost broke down too when I told them how much it meant for us to be in such a wonderful place.

A little thank you gift in a very beautiful bag for her teachers

My Mom stayed home, so I never had any idea of what daycare was. Not that I need to list any excuses because it's a choice only Bill and I can make for what we do for our family that's the best, but this wasn't an option for me: a) because we need my income, and b) I love my job, work at a very flexible company that is family friendly and frankly, I worked really hard to get to where I am and want to continue moving upward. It's such a personal, individual family decision though that there are absolutely no rights or wrongs there. And when it came time for us to choose a child care route for our daughter it was such a tough choice. Nanny's are the primary child caregivers in NYC, for many reasons, but I just never could wrap my head around that idea... there were way too many "what ifs" for me to feel comfortable. Nanny shares, while a little more economical, had too many technical "what ifs". Our parents are very happy living in Texas and Florida respectively, so Grandparent care is out too. And that left Daycare.

Of all the places we toured, this preschool was the top of our list. The director was warm, the class structure fit with what Bill and I had in mind, the kids and teachers all seemed happy, all the technicalities were in place and overall we had a very good feeling. This varied wildly at other places- from feeling lukewarm for certain places to feeling guilty for even considering putting our daughter in the care of those centers. But then you have to consider the wait lists. We were lucky to get in to 1 of our top 2 in January.

I know she probably won't have any memory of that place but I will always remember her first day. I will always remember coming to pick her up and seeing the smile on her face. Every day I look at all the artwork she did that's hung around my cubicle and our fridge at home. Every picture of her on the school's Shutterfly account where she's just beaming. How she loves to dance and look through her books because dancing and singing and music and reading were just a few of the engaging activities she did every day. And just seeing her happy, sweet personality shine is the best testament to the care she received.

We're moving to another Preschool of America but one thats right down the street from our home, is much more economical and does all that singing, reading, dancing, and art plus is bilingual with Mandarin. And it's a place we also got the same very good feeling about. It's exciting to move on to somewhere that fits our overall lifestyle better, but it's still sad to say goodbye.

And in case anyone you know if ever looking for a daycare near 42nd in NYC, here's the referral letter I wrote to the Director:

We have had an amazing past 8 months at Preschool of America 42^nd. From the first day we dropped our daughter off to her last day there we never had any hesitations that she was in the right place. Her teachers were warm, helpful to us as new parents, and we could see the connection they had formed with our daughter just by the smiles and looks she’d give them. Taking her to school every day was a pleasant experience for all of us because even though she couldn’t tell us she was happy with words, we could see it in her interactions with her teachers and classmates as soon as she got to her room. All her teachers and the staff were very communicative to us about our daughter’s progress, extremely easy to reach in case we needed to get ahold of them and just so pleasant every single day, especially Karema (and we’ve started using Karema’s nickname for our daughter too- “MoiMoi”). We especially loved the Shutterfly account too, and it was the little details like that that made Preschool of America 42^nd just an extra special place for us.