Anne's Diary - A mom's adventure in child care

January 31 - Week 13: A Caregiver's Notebook

Everyday now holds a new experience with my eight-week old son, Henry. He's moved out of the "newborn" stage and seems more henry and more like a baby each day. The bond between us continues to grow stronger and he delights me with his smiles and laughter. He's actually started "talking" lately; I have long conversations with him, telling him details about our days and he responds with elaborate cooing and squawking. He's also begun trying to suck his thumb, but he can't quite uncurl his fingers yet.

These new developments in his personality and physical abilities have made me acutely aware of how much he'll continue to change everyday, and how much I won't be able to witness every aspect of this transformation once he's in full-time day care. After talking with other working mothers about their experiences and how they reconcile work and lack of involvement with their kids, I've decided to work with Henry's caregiver, Shasheena, to chronicle his activities and progress while he's in her care.

I'm putting together a simple notebook with a page dedicated to each day he spends in Shasheena's care. I plan to ask her to note everyday issues like the number of bottles consumed, wet/dirty diapers, crying or excessive fussiness and naps taken, so that I can monitor his daily needs. Additionally, I'll ask her to note any new personality traits (laughing, smiling) and developmental landmarks (discovering his fingers, rolling over). I'm hoping this notebook will accomplish two things: help me monitor Henry's health and well-being and, most importantly, keep me involved in the little developmental details of his growth.

Fortunately, Shasheena runs a small family care facility with just four children so she's very involved with each of the kids everyday. A daily chronicle of this type might not be possible in a larger facility, but I'm optimistic that it will work in our situation. I haven't approached Shasheena with this idea yet, but I'm not anticipating any resistance; one of the reasons I selected her was for her obvious interest in the parent/child relationship. My intuition tells me she'll understand my concerns and be glad to help.

Next week, Henry and I are hitting the road to introduce him to his grandparents in Little Rock and his great grandparents near Chicago. I hope he takes an instant liking to travel!

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Anne's Diary - A mom's adventure in child care - Week 13

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