Jack's Robot

Jack,

I have switched you to a new daycare. Your current daycare had been okay for you when you were younger. The younger room teachers were more nurturing and the environment was more suitable for younger kids - meaning that there was a lot to do in the room, but not so much to offer outdoors or by way of exercise and energetic activity. As a little one when you are learning to walk, the movement from one object to another is enough, but as you get older, you need more.

So it was time to move on.

I’m very excited about your new center. Your teachers are fantastic from the limited interactions that I’ve had so far, but they have demonstrated a lot of caring and empathy to you in this transition process that has really gone very far in winning me over.

Case in point: Your very first day, you entered the room and it was quite early – about 7:15AM. There weren’t many children there yet and you looked small and more vulnerable than I’m used to seeing you. You picked up a few cars that were on the floor and then went and sat alone at the lunch table clutching your teddy bear.

Your new teacher, Scott, came over and noticed the cars that you had found and asked if by any chance you liked cars? You nodded and he asked if you would be interested in him getting out the carpet that has roads on it so you could drive your cars on the roads. Your eyes got really big and you stood up at the table and shook your head at him. It was almost as though you couldn’t believe that he would do this for you. I wanted to hug you at that moment, but I resisted because I sensed this was a good bonding experience with your new teacher which I want you to have. I really want a strong bond to form between you and your teachers so that being apart isn’t so hard on you.

God knows it’s not easy for me. I feel much better knowing you are in an environment where you get plenty of love and stimulation and movement because I know you and that is the stuff of happiness!

What I realize this week as you are now off to your new center, is that I loved the time that we had to commute together. Your new center is very close to home so I drop you off in Webster before I head off to commute to my work. As I drive that route now, I think of you. Your old center was minutes from my job, so we used to drive our daily commute together.

I see all the landmarks that we would watch for each morning and I sometimes find myself talking to an invisible you in the backseat. “Jack, there’s the river! Do you see it?” “Here comes the construction trucks! There they are! Do you see the dump truck?!?” “There’s the car factory!”.

But the thing I love most is one that you found all on your own.

There is a building that we pass that is very unique in it’s appearance and long ago you pointed it out to me by noting in casual passing. “There’s the Robot, Mommy!”Once I realized what you were looking at, I could see what you meant. This huge old factory building DOES look like a robot and every morning from there on in, we would wave and say “good morning!” to the big robot as we drove to school and work together.

And as I passed your robot this morning, I smiled. And yes, I’ll admit it – tears may have come to my eyes because you have made my life so much incredibly better than I ever could have imagined possible.How incredibly thankful I am to have you in my life. Because of you, I live in a world where I commute in the morning and home in the afternoon under the watchful eye of a giant benevolent robot. Jack’s Robot.

You make life an adventure! Thank you for that!

Love,

Mommy