New daycare, new beginning

As I mentioned in my previous post, sending him to daycare has only caused us sadness. Seeing how detrimental it is for his health, mental and social development, we quit sending him to daycare. We took care of him and slowly helped him to gain back his confidence, healthy weight and of course his cheerfulness!

Previously we had found a daycare that we liked, but the minimal age acceptance of the child is one year old. So at the end of May, we started sending our  boy to the new daycare which is much nearer to my lab. On the first two days, we insist on staying with him to encourage him to get acquainted with the teachers confidently. This Montessori based daycare/play school is for toddlers and being the the youngest in the group, he gets to socialize with elder toddlers. In the mornings, the have playtime, songs, dancing and reading. Then, they tend to their modest fruits and vegetable farm, followed by playing in the mud and sandpit. After lunch and nap time they have playtime and some fun activities.

Gunden took some time adapting but he was not unhappy. He adapted to this new place quite quickly and tend to like the school. On weekdays, after ensuring that he is well fed and rested, I carry him on baby sling, walk to the train station, take a train, get down at the next stop, walk uphill to the daycare and drop him off, walk to the lab and work. After work, I walk back to the daycare, pick him up and we happily go back home. As soon as we arrive, I feed him milk and let him take a short nap, while I do some chores (dinner, cleaning, laundry, etc). I feed him dinner, once he is awaken, wash him up, play for a while and put him to bed.

In Japanese daycare, every child is assigned a notebook which is to be filled by the parents and teachers. I will note down his activities, mealtime, potty time and also my concerns about him. Similarly, the teacher will update on his activities, progress and so on. They will also upload pictures of the kids at the daycare to the parents. So, it is quite comfortable and trustworthy place. The teachers are especially very kind and accommodating. As much as I want gunden to be taken care solely by me, I am glad that he is exposed to such healthy environment and friendly people.

With this new assuring daycare, I hope to finish up my research work during my work hours and complete my PhD successfully and look forward to our next venture with my precious gundu paiya.

Resilience

You know a person all your life
that person means the world to you
joyous, happy, caring and you become happy just being with that person.
Suddenly you see that person's happiness shattered,
changing them to becoming dull, unhappy, withered :(

...........
...........
...........

As time goes, slowly the determined inner personality sprung back.
Although wounded, the person strives to move on.
Improved her lifestyle.
Learned music.
Her hard work recognized by her employer, and
modestly awarded.
Applied to graduate school, and
got accepted :)

Here is to more accomplishments, and
of course... her resilience

My life revolves around you

Research work for PhD needs to be completed and that revolves, writing up thesis, submission of a paper, complete some major experiments, preliminary defense and final defense. All these need to be accomplished by the end of the year, while taking care of gunden, Satya, household, food and so much more.

Sometimes, I wonder how mothers/parents adapt to parenthood responsibilities so swiftly. During these events, you are reminded of your parents' sacrifices and often make you wonder how did they manage their parenthood responsibilities with limited resources and more kids.

But there is an indescribable joy in providing to our kids, the love of our lives. You observe the positive changes in them, get to see them growing up by experimenting, intrigued and wanting to know what is happening while grooming and developing their unique personalities. It is astounding how gunden can radiate such positive energy to us, which subsequently, enables us to work through crazy schedules and deadlines (positive feedback).  

I am always happy to provide for my baby (even during crazy schedule). He is my everything and my whole life revolves around him.

House-elf

Well, gunden's wake up schedule has changed a little bit. He moves a lot before waking up, rolling to every possible corner of the bed, stretch his limbs, speak or practice saying some words, roll over to my side to be cuddled momentarily (if he is still sleepy), or wake up immediately to play. He wakes up, notices that all his toys are in place, easily accessible for him to grab, taste, knock and throw them. But his favorite act is to read or look at the hard cover books of his. He recognizes a few words, thus when we ask him to show us a picture, he will identify the specific book, flip the pages and show us the picture.

So, to ensure that his schedule does not change, or to ease him, I will place his toys, at his appropriate places (i.e the sliding toys at the top counter, the stacking rings, his toy keyboard, his books, everything in place. Of course I do all this naturally and also I am a very organized person. But suddenly I just want to associate to what I am doing to house-elves (Harry Potter). In the Harry Potter series, the students luggage, bed, belongings, food are all prepared and arranged comfortably. But these are done by the house-elves unapparent to the students. I am the house-elf of the house. I arrange everything accordingly for Satya and gunden, easing their access to their belongings. Well, this blog is just for fun, to update a little about gunden's schedule (which changed drastically comparing to previous posts), and also to brag a little about my house-elf service. Well, I am not sure if my elvish service is being noticed or appreciated but I just wanted to add a little fun to what I am doing, thus the Harry Potter reference.

Dedicated to Dobby, the free elf.