A Week at the Y

Upon returning from DC I decided to give B & I two weeks to adapt to working out at the Y. You may recall that he did not do too well the first several times we went. Well, we have made some progress and are all doing better, but let me start at the beginning.

On Monday, he only was in with the child care folks long enough for 5 minutes of exercise. I think this was, in part, a staffing issue. Yes, he was crying and distressed, but there were also about 13 kids and two adults. This is just too many particularly with most of them under 2 years old. I don't think they had the ability to work with him much, but it was breaking my heart too so we left. On Wednesday, he made it about 15 minutes and one of the care givers worked with him alot and tried quite a few things including walking him over to where he could see me exercising. Eventually though, he had to have Mama. We all congratulated him on having such a good day. The caregiver did have some ideas though including coming every day so he would have a routine.

Going the next day was a very tough decision for me as it was becoming so hard for me to leave him while he cried and I just wasn't seeing much progress. However, Thursday there was improvement. The whole way there and while dropping him off I was very positive, encouraging and reassuring reminding him what a brave, good boy he was and that it would be OK. For the first time, I went to get him without being summoned. I had peeked at 15 minutes and he was doing OK. When I went to get him after 30 minutes he started crying loudly when he saw me, but had been ok when I first spotted him. It wasn't ideal, but it seemed he was settling in.

On Friday, there was no screaming when I dropped him off, just a few little tears. I peeked at 35 minutes and he seemed OK so I went and did a few laps and picked him up just under an hour with no tears. He just took my hand and said "home." As a reward for being such a big boy we tried to go visit Daddy, but he was in an assembly (I'd forgotten an astronaut was presenting that day). In any case, it went much better. I was so glad as both of us were showing some wear early in the week. I wasn't sure how long I could try, but really know that I need the exercise and B could use some interaction with other kids. Friday evening, we went back to the Y as a family (with the Hoppers) for family swim night. B seemed to really enjoy this. He splashed and swam, hugged the "noodles" toddled around and laughed with Nate. It was a great family time and hopefully will make add a positive element to Y memories.

It was quite the process, but very encouraging as I know that for January and February he'll have to be in day care full time while I study for the bar. I suppose the next step is finding some child care for that period. I dread it, but there aren't really any alternatives and it is good to know that he can adapt and be OK. It was tough for everyone but I'm glad we have cleared this hurdle together.