Changing of the Guard

As I explained earlier this week, I’m not great with change.  Of any kind really, let alone change that affects me and my family on a day-to-day basis.  So imagine my dismay when Greenleigh’s teacher pulled me aside last week to let me know that she had given her 2 weeks notice.  She had found another job with great pay and benefits, and while I’m happy for her, I was a little sad for us.  And my heart sank even further when I arrived to pick the girls on Monday afternoon and found that she had not stayed for the entire two weeks.

Dramatic much?  Maybe, but it’s hard to find a childcare provider that you trust and that you feel is going to take the time to really get to know your child and teach them something, not just let them run around the classroom like banshees.  Because, the latter is far easier to do than the former.  It’s difficult to find someone who will give it 100%, and I thought we had finally found that.

This particular teacher started at the daycare a little over two years ago, and despite a rocky start, we had really grown to love her.  She began working in the toddler room when Greenleigh was just shy of a year, and stayed with Greenleigh until she was 18 months.  A while back, she took over the 2 1/2 year room, and became Greenleigh’s teacher again.  I loved the organization and structure she brought to her classroom.  When I dropped Greenleigh off in the mornings, the teacher always had something going on – storytime, circle time, songs, or a craft.   She would send me pictures of Greenleigh during the day, call or text me with updates, and who could forget that she pretty much single-handedly potty trained Greenleigh.

The situation got even harder yesterday when Greenleigh started to ask for her.  Of course, this isn’t the first teacher to leave her school, but it is the first one that she’s noticed.  You might remember that her teacher was often the best part of her day, so she’s not very accepting of the fact that her teacher isn’t going to be there anymore.  I’ve tried to explain it the best way that I can and reassure her that we will have her teacher over soon (she babysits for us occasionally), but she can’t quite wrap her brain around her.  Finality is a hard thing to explain to a little kid.  It felt very much like that scene in Bambi.  And as a mother I’m sad because my little girl is sad.

This morning when I dropped Greenleigh off in her classroom, children’s music was blaring and the kids were running around like banshees.  The order and organization were gone.  No group activities, crafts, or anything like it.  I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that she’s had two accidents in the last two days that the teacher has been gone, after being accident free for nearly a month.  I know it’s temporary, until they can find another teacher at least, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about the quality of her care right now.

Why do the good ones always have to be the ones to leave?