Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Penelope Darling: Mother's Day Out

We found out we were expecting #2 in late June (the day before Father's Day, actually. Talk about a Father's Day for the books) and therefore didn't have much time to plan for his arrival, which was just a few months away. Our little ones will be 15 months apart, and as you can assume, that is going to come with many struggles, though an equal amount of blessings. One of the biggest things I have worried about was Penny not being able to go out and about as often as she did when it was just the two of us (being realistic, I know getting two out the door is going to be a lot more daunting than taking one out was). I worried about this, because Penny (and I, quite honestly) has become so used to being out and about, seeing her friends, going to activities, story and music times, etc. I worried about her getting stir crazy and therefore fussy and restless on the days we couldn't quite make it out the door (I totally get it, sweet girl!).  David and I initially thought of a Mother's Day Out program, but it was the middle of summer, and these book up the winter before each school year. I reached out to a couple of programs regardless, but just as I had thought, they were all booked up, waitlists included. My worries were still there, but I decided I would handle it. I would figure it out, and manage two under two! I had stopped looking, and moved on. But, in one of my moms facebook groups, I saw someone post asking about availability for Mother's Day Out programs. There were not many comments, but one of them mentioned one right near our home that had just 2 open spots. TWO! And the two open spots happened to be in Penny's age group. I had truly moved on from the idea of a Mother's Day Out program, but Penny was napping, I was done with some chores, and had nothing to loose, so I shot them an e-mail. By the end of the day, I received an e-mail back from the director with lots of helpful information about their church (quite a few MDO programs are held by/at churches, which I love), school, program, etc. There were several attachments with additional info, an application, school calendar, etc. I tried not to get ahead of myself, but was so excited with all the information I was reading. 

I absolutely adore my time each day with my sweet girl, don't get me wrong. My goal wasn't to ship her off each day so I could eat bon bons in my sweats. David and I were truly trying to figure out if there was something that would benefit everyone as we enter this next, crazy chapter of our lives. A MDO program would provide Penny with an abundance of social time 2 days a week, where she got to play with new toys, make new friends, didn't have to rely on entertaining herself while I was tending to her brother, and got to do all of this in a setting where she gets to learn about the Lord (they have a weekly bible verse they learn about...so sweet). They also have a "letter of the week", learn about colors, etc. On top of that, I would be able to have some one on one time with our sweet boy that I otherwise wouldn't get (you know, aside from the midnight feedings). I'll be able to snuggle him as long as he (and I) wants, without having to worry if Penny was feeling left out, or alone. I would be able to take him to some of the infant/baby activities I used to take Penny to, and find some playdates focused on little ones his age where Penny would probably be terribly bored at. All in all, this would benefit everyone. 

So we set up a school tour for 2 days later. Penny usually takes a couple (literally, like 5 minutes or less) of minutes to warm up in new settings. She likes to look, take everything in, and then jump in. As soon as we got to the school, she said "down! down! down!" I put her down, and she just takes off playing. I had never seen her warm up so quickly. Talk about reassuring. It made my mama heart so happy, and it pretty much sold me right then and there on that school, program, everything. 

Today was her first day, and I'll be sure to write all about that in another post. My fingers need a break for now....

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