So we placed the Dinos into childcare at the beginning of the year hoping to let them be exposed to social activity and also to be more independent. Afterall, grannies will always treat them like babies and wait on them hand and foot.
The initial phase was tough since they were not used going to CC for long hours but we have little choices since we worked long hours too and Popo is not able to handle both at 1 time and therefore not able to bring them back earlier.
They cried so much during dropoff that I also cried. Its more of mum's guilt I think. Knowing that I need leave them there for 11 hours and that they don't have the luxury and comfort of home. But hey, that's why we chose to send them there in the 1st place!
After they started to settle in then we were hit by a series of virus. Flu, stomach flu etc. If 1 of them is down, the next 1 will follow suit soon. Lucky ( or unlucky) is that we usually have 1 sick kid at 1 time thus allowing us to go work while my mum is activated to help look after unless it requires a trip to PD where I would have to be present for the communication.
The down side is virus had a prolonged stay in our family. Many a times, my mum or me will end up catching it towards the end since we are main caregiver during day and night respectively. I find it the hardest since am holding a full time day job but also need care for the sick Dinos during night time. Most dreaded would be fever where I literally had no sleep when it spikes at night and I desperately try to sponge it down and kept waking up to take their temperature.
How I managed to stay sane and alive, I really dunno. But I thank god for my mother's help, Mr Love's support, my brother's weekly visits, my bffs and colleagues' patience to listening to my bitching when things got tough. I also tried to hypnotize myself thatt this is only a phase and we will get over it soon though sometimes I desperately want to know how soon. Haha.
However, going to CC has its pro too. Dinos actually became more independent from attending CC and also picked up alot of words and improved tremendously in conversing. They would come home and sing nursery rhymes, talk about things they did or see etc. They can also follow simple instructions well now.
Though all these could have been achieved even though they stayed at home but I think going CC hasten the process of learning. I also like the fact that they get to interact with other kids and gain social skills. This is something staying at home would not be able to provide and since they are twins, they showed little or no interest in other kids.
We went for a parents teachers meeting session last week and was glad to hear they did mingle around and teachers actually split them into different groups.
I'm also grateful that Dinos met a great team of teachers to kick start their school life. In fact BD was super clingy to his chinese teacher and he actually sticks to her closely in school initially and only start to warm out to other teachers recently. From conversations with friends, I realised how lucky we were to have such teachers since they are the ones dealing with our kids during their time in CC and is essential we have a responsible and caring team.
This also goes to show that we can actually not placed our children in those branded CC since mine were placed in the most affordable ones in market and we were quite pleased with the school. That said, I usually have no other expectations other than keeping my Dinos safe.
