I love MDO

So it's about 11:30AM on a Monday morning, I'm actually getting to sit down to eat a meal uninterrupted, my house is clean (though in the interest of full disclosure my master bath could still use some work), laundry is put away, and I have some free time to write a blog post. How in the world is that possible with two young kids you ask? Jack is now at his first day of Mother's Day Out this morning!

This past weekend, I kept feeling this sense of sadness from time to time knowing that today was coming. Now why in the world would I feel bummed out that I get a break for five hours today? I guess it's just the realization that he's growing up and I'm starting to lose some control over the influences in his life. He's been in childcare for a few hours at a time each week while I attend some other groups I'm involved with, so it's not like he's never been away from Bob or I for any extended period of time. This Mother's Day Out thing just feels different though, maybe because it's more structured and that reminds me of him going to school somehow? I'm not 100% sure.

Anyway, I thought I would be sad without him here today, but I confess that it's been absolutely WONDERFUL. I don't know what I was so worried about this weekend! I've had time to play with Anna and then get the house cleaned up while she's napping. I even have time to go to the grocery store during the day now! I still haven't tackled an HEB run yet with two kids. Bob and I have just taken turns taking Jack at night to get our groceries, but now I can actually do it during daylight hours. What a concept! I do miss Jack, but boy it's nice to have some time to myself. If it wasn't for the fact that he's already in childcare two other mornings of the week as well, I'd bump him up to two days at MDO instead of one. I think we'll do that in the Fall.

My only frustration with MDO has been searching for a silly nap mat for Jack to sleep on. Those things are impossible to find in stores! JC Penney was the only store that had some in stock, but all they had was Dora the Explorer. I saw a bunch of sites online that sell them, but needed to get one for Jack by today and didn't want to wait on shipping or pay the prices I saw. Luckily a friend of mine had one to spare, so Jack is using that one. I figured with the number of moms that have their kids in daycare, preschool, or MDO that these things would be easy to find, but apparently I was wrong. Hello Target? Walmart?

The other wonderful thing that's happened over the last week is that Anna has decided to start sleeping through the night! Actually, I should say we've started to let her sleep through the night. At her two month well-baby check, her pediatrician told us that she should be able to sleep through the night now (meaning at least a six hour stretch). We had been waking her up to feed her around 11pm thinking that it would help her sleep longer, and when we stopped doing that, she's magically been sleeping longer on her own!! We've put her down around 8pm and she's slept until about 4:30am the last few nights. Now I know that little babies can be really fickle with their sleeping habits and that this may change next week, but I'm encouraged we've had a few nights in a row that she's been able to go so long. It's amazing how much better the world looks when you've had a decent nights sleep!

Preschool/MDO

Now this is what I was really going to write about today before my mind went blank! I need some more advice again, and you moms who have blazed this trail before me seem to have some great ideas, so bring them on!

The church where my MOPS group meets has a great reputation for their Mother's Day Out/preschool program. A lot of the moms in this group currently have one or more of their kids enrolled in the weekday ministries program (their umbrella term for MDO/preschool) and just rave about the teachers and how much their kids enjoy their time there. The church is currently registering kids for next fall.

Jack is 15 months right now, so in September he'll be near the 21 month old mark. They offer a 2 day a week, 9am to 1pm option for kids under 2 years. The way I see it, here are the possible reasons I (or another mom) might come up with for utilizing something like this: I feel I need a break, I feel like Jack needs more "socializing" opportunities since he's currently without siblings, and/or I feel like there is something he'd be missing out on learning-wise if he didn't attend.

If I'm honest in evaluating these reasons for our situation, I just don't see how any of them warrant me putting him into Mother's Day Out at this point. As much as a 4 hour block of time free from changing a diaper, slipping on toys on the kitchen floor, and crying when I leave the room sounds absolutely fantastic, I'd miss my buddy!! I have a hard enough time leaving him up at my church for a 2 hour break for bible study even though I know he's very well looked after. Plus, I do feel like I have other outlets like this bible study and my MOPS group to give him time away from me and around other kids. And, he's only 15 months, how much "socializing" does he really need? Finally, after chatting with my sister who works up at a daycare, there's nothing a 2 year old (or less) can learn for a few hours away from mom that he/she can't learn staying at home with good old mom. I guess I just don't want to get sucked into that my-child-knew-swahili-by-the-time-he-could-walk stuff, but I admit it's hard not too.

Anyway, after thinking about this for a few days, I just don't think it's a good fit for Jack for the above reasons. Maybe we'll evaluate again for the following year.

How about you ladies (or gents)? Did you start your kids early into any kind of scheduled Mother's Day out or preschool program? Why or why not?