Not Your Average Ferris Wheel: Big Changes

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Big Changes

Here at Chez Ferris, we are experiencing big changes. You might remember back in September when Cole's day care teacher was a horror show, we were considering what I said were "many options." It was then we realized that our child's life was passing by like a speeding bullet and he was spending 45+ hours a week in the care of someone else. That someone else could be someone who didn't treat our child like we would and who second guessed what we were doing at home. Since her departure, we've been happy with Cole's primary teacher (who was the only full-timer in the toddler room), but for the past 3 months, she's been on sick leave after breaking her arm before Thanksgiving. During these past few months he has had a rotation of part-time teachers. Needless to say, most days when I arrive and ask how his day was this is the kind of response I get, "Oh well I just got here at 2, but they didn't say anything" or "So and So was with him all day, but she left already" or "I wasn't here this morning, so i'm not sure." You get the picture. There's not any exchange of positive information (like Cole did this or Cole did that), so I have no idea what specific details happened during the day. All I know is my kid knows his ABC's and he can count to ten. That's great and makes me proud, but I don't know how he learned that since there's no one there to share his entire day with me when I pick him up.

So all of that combined with Keith's desire to be somewhat self-employed again is what led us to the decision that Keith would apply to a part-time job at SUNY with the hopes that he would get it and be able to stay home with Cole during the day and also work to supplement his income with his photography business.

Well that day arrived (can you feel me smiling?). A few weeks ago Keith was offered the job and today is his last day. Tomorrow he begins the new job, and next week he starts to stay home with Cole during the day and mostly work at night (with the exception of one afternoon). Cole will go to daycare twice a week, and within the next few months we will find a daycare closer to home where Cole will make friends with kids he will eventually go to school with. As it stands right now, all of the kids he is friends with live in New Paltz and will go to school there and not here in the Rondout Valley district.

Understandably, Keith was nervous (but excited) about taking this step, but his current employer and his co-workers all showed such a deep respect for his decision that it helped reassure him that it was the right one.

In honor of this big change taking place in our lives, the following are some Dada son pictures I've taken and some pictures of Cole from Keith's perspective. All are iPhone photos.