January 5, 2010 - A Rough First

This was a rough day for me - very, very rough. I think it's rough for every mom. Today I dropped Georgia off for her first day of daycare. Months before she was born we interviewed with several daycares in our area, I checked up on their records with the state and we went with the one that gave us the best feeling and had the most experienced workers in the infant room. And yet on day one, I couldn't help but have the worst feeling in my heart that I was abandoning my daughter with complete strangers who didn't know her cries, didn't know her facial expressions, didn't know her likes and dislikes, didn't care if she cried for a few minutes before they could pick her up, didn't have their hearts break every time her bottom lip quivered and her brow furrowed. I had every intention of taking my camera inside the daycare on this day and taking pictures of Georgia in the infant room. But as I sat in the parking lot, dreading walking inside that front door, I knew I wouldn't have the fortitude to take any pictures. And I was right. I cried like a baby as I handed my daughter over. She just looked around with little concern - already the adult in this situation. So I was left to photograph the marked bottles that came home with Georgia at the end of her first day of daycare. A day we both survived.