Plan C

We've made it through one whole week of K's six week maternity leave. It was so wonderful of my sister to take Kirk back again. But we knew on Monday that there was no way in hell we'd be able to handle Auntie Daycare for the entire time. It's the drive. That remains the biggest thing. But it's also...that place. It's hard to describe but Kirk just doesn't get the kind of care and attention that he gets with K. I suppose that seems counterintuitive since it's family, but my sister is a busy Kramer-from-Seinfeld style entrepreneur and so even when she's physically there, she's not really there. Her husband is more wrapped up with their new baby so as much as he might like having another boy around, he's not going to be particularly focused on Kirk. He's certainly not exactly learning anything. That's not the point! We had already gotten into the mindset that this was like summer vacation and he'd be letting his brain rot the whole time. Heh. But it's still somehow different. A1 is in school, A2 is in half-day kindergarten, so he's not even getting the cousin time that he had before. He's on his own, left to play and amuse himself, or fend for himself in the crush of little girls from the building that pile in for after-school playtime. And he's not getting regular naps. "Oh, he got a good hour of sleep in the car" is not a regular nap. "He was asleep in [A2's] chair when we came back out to the living room" is not adorable, it's heartbreaking.

Mr. b and I have decided to each use a week of vacation and stay home with Kirk the last two weeks of K's leave. But three more weeks over there still seemed like too much for all of us to handle. He's been a wreck all weekend; some of it is all of us being sick right now but mostly, he hasn't had a decent nap in a frickin week! He gets all wound up and has no quiet time. And he's on reduced Mama and Daddy time because of the long drive and the subsequent earlier bedtime due to the lack of napping. My parents were babysitting last night and I asked them if there was any chance they could cover a week for us, too. So that brings it down to just two more weeks. I think we can handle that.

I certainly don't regret sending Kirk to Auntie Daycare when I first went back to work. I think it was perfect for both of us. He was so little and I was a first-time mom going back. It would have been much worse to send my kid to some random stranger. But things are different now, for my sister as well as for us. The circumstances have changed and Kirk's older and I just don't think it's the right environment any longer. I'd love to somehow cover the remaining two weeks but I feel vastly better knowing it's down to just those 9 days - Mom's sleeping over with us on Thursday night so will stay with Kirk the following day. It's not a perfect solution but it's a plan.