Tuesday/Thursday Day Care

After pulling himself up in his crib and walking (while holding the railing)

over to the corner, he turned off his monitor . . .

Now that Jack is home during the week, we have arranged to switch Carter to part-time enrollment at school. It actually was a tricky process because the infant room is at capacity. We didn't want to give up our spot (and potentially need it again in a couple weeks), and the director didn't want to give up a full-time enrollment headcount (and tuition) in exchange for a half-time enrollment, unless she could get another half-time student. Luckily, there was a baby planning to start on Tuesday/Thursday enrollment this week, and the parents had been hoping for full-time enrollment. So they took Carter's full-time spot and we took their Tue/Thur spot. Carter actually is hitting a transition period now, where he probably is only a couple weeks away from being eligible to move up to the older-baby ("cruisers") room. His school separates the mobile babies from the little ones in order to protect the little ones. Since Carter is pulling up and walking along anything he can hold onto, and his pulling himself across the floor at top speed, it could be a matter of days before he takes off and will need to be separated from the little ones! There are numerous vacancies in the older-baby room, so we should have no problem transitioning back to full-time enrollment, even if we have to move him to the other room to do it.

I actually was a little surprised by my own hesitation to remove him from day care. When we found out Jack had been laid off and started to consider what we'd do about Carter's enrollment, I actually experienced some sadness at the idea. It's funny because ultimately, I want him at home with me (or Jack, if it works out better that way). But the idea of pulling him suddenly and on a temporary basis, made me sad about taking him away from the friends and teachers he knows . . . and that I know, too. So I think this two-day weekly enrollment will be a good balance for the time being: it saves us some money, frees up two days a week for Jack to concentrate on school work and job search (three days if you consider I'm home Fridays), and all three of us can continue to see the people at school who have come to be a huge part of our lives.