It was all fine. Naomi had a wonderful day at her daycare mum's house, and is talking about going back again this week. She made a friend, and brought home a picture that we had to stick on the fridge. Just in case you were all wondering...
What a relief! Now I am looking forward to this Wednesday, as well!
If your kids are like mine (well, mine and our daycare kids), and allowed to watch a very limited amount of television, they will probably be desperately excited when it is on - and perhaps even cluster around the screen, to get as close as possible (because you don't want to miss a moment of the Bananas in Pyjamas!). After repeated efforts at "stay back from the TV - further, further...", I knew I needed another plan.
I now set up a picnic blanket on the lounge floor, as far away from the TV as I want the kids to be. They are not allowed to go past its front edge. This is a clearly marked line, and there can be no arguments about creeping closer to the TV. My real tip is to make it a comfortable, fun place to be -- add some cushions, have their water bottles close by, and maybe even a snack, if it is the right time of day. Make sure to allow some room around behind the blanket, for dancing etc, and for those kids that lose interest in the program. Pretty soon your kids will WANT to be on the blanket (and therefore away from the screen). They can all see, there is room to stretch out and it is almost like having an inside picnic, at a regularly scheduled time!
For more great tips, go over to Rocks in My Dryer.
2 evenings in a row where I find myself sitting down in front of my laptop, with Naomi asleep, Brad still out, the lamp on and music playing gently in the background... I would complain about Brad working back every night this week (he has a building to deliver tomorrow - got to love the construction industry), except that these few moments have been pure bliss. And tonight I have dinner on my lap and a glass of wine by the keyboard. Heaven!
Naomi has found getting back into the swing of our daycare kids very tiring. She still only naps for 40 minutes, around 11 am. No matter what I do I can't seem to get it any longer. So by 5 pm the poor thing is collapsing - here is the evidence of her falling asleep in the highchair, between mouthfuls of dinner. Clearly I have to work on improving my dinner table conversation, so that she is interested enough to stay awake!
For the record, she didn't even wake up when I took her out, changed her into pj's and wiped her face (which she hates). But she did wake an hour later, when her tummy figured out that it had missed half of dinner, and her bedtime nursing!
I had a 14 week old baby start in my care this week - just for 2 days each week. Boy, was that a shock to the system! But with a name like Valentino, was he ever going to be anything but a total charmer??!!?!? And yes... I am now clucky again. Which Brad is thrilled about!
As for the house -- well, anyone want to buy a cute 3-bedroom house with tropical pool?? In a lovely little estate, tucked in a valley with great views. Lol... we had an offer for exactly what we wanted, while we were away in Fiji. They emailed the contract to us and we signed. We were absolutely thrilled and couldn't wait for it to go through, so that we can buy our bigger house! And then we heard yesterday that the buyer's finance had fallen through. So we are back to square one, and I have to have the house ready for an open home inspection again this weekend. Just when I was congratulating myself on cleaning and presenting the place beautifully while we were away, and not having to keep it that way once we got back from holiday. Sigh.....
Yes, it is official... I am now a registered carer for the Family Daycare scheme. I had the final inspection of our house this morning, after we had our handyman in yesterday, to build an enclosure around our pool filter and hot water system.
Brad's parents are visiting at the moment (ideal timing? I think not...). They went out sightseeing today, while I was racing around making sure all of the safety latches are in place, the finger jam stopper was on the sliding door, plastic covers on all the power points, lawn mower away in the garage etc. etc........ all before the 9.00am inspection. And following the worst night of sleeping (or lack of) that Naomi has had in months.
Luckily the frequent wakes last night meant that Naomi was back down for a nap by 8.45am, and slept through the whole inspection.
A friend from the training course that I had to do, had her inspection last Monday. She rang this morning to say that they were very picky, found lots of faults in unexpected places and that she had been disappointed by the negative attitude. You can imagine the bundle of nerves that I was in by the time the FDC co-ordinator arrived!
But I was very pleasantly surprised. We chatted, she looked around the kitchen, then the sleeping area and bathroom. We wandered out into the backyard (still chatting about our kids, where we'd lived etc), and she remarked on how great the new enclosure is (phew!). Then back inside, she signed off all the paperwork and confirmed that a registration certificate will be winging its way to me this afternoon!
So Naomi and I are now wage-earners again. I am only planning to take children on 4 days, because Naomi loves her swimming lessons at the local pool so much that we will continue them, and take that day off together each week. I am looking forward to having other kids here for Naomi to play with, and the contact with the adult world again. And the money certainly won't go astray either. Please wish us luck on this new venture!
