that the baby is safe.
And while I really am deeply and truly thankful, there's still a significant part of me that wants to just through my hands up and say seriously? Did I need anxiety on top of everything else?
It was the dumpling's second day at daycare (first full day) because I had an all-day event today. But I scheduled everything so that I could run out and nurse him midday, and his daycare provider agreed to meet me near my event. Which is how I happened to be sitting on the grass nursing the baby when a 5 year old kicked a soccer ball into my face, i.e. about 4 inches away from full impact with the baby's head.
I know it was an accident, I know the 5 year old is a sweet boy and certainly wasn't trying to hit the baby, I know he was terrified and immediately ran to hide. But a little part of me has to wonder whether a family daycare is really a safe place for a 6 week old (full disclaimer: it's school vacation week. On a 'regular' week I will collect the dumpling long before the 3 big kids get home from school. But what if there's a vacation day I don't know about (half the big kids are in public school, half in private school)? Or what if a big kid stays home from school one day? All good intentions aside, they're not really old enough to be responsible around a baby, and while there was nothing that anyone could have done to prevent this particular accident, it really didn't help that Y. was in fact otherwise occupied taking the fusspot to the toilet. What if one of the big kids tries to pick the baby up while she's distracted by my 2 year old?)
I'd rather just keep the dumpling home for another few weeks, but my habit of waking up to work at 4 am (4-7 am is one of the nice, quiet blocks of time around here) probably contributed to the whole your-body-is-melting-down situation ... and not working is just not an option at this point.
Am I overreacting?
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3 comments:
I'm glad he's safe too!
Day care is just a tough thing. Something bad could always happen. There is always a "what if" situation. My anxiety would really bother me while I was at work thinking about the "what ifs". I would just have to tell myself to ignore them. And accidents do/did happen. Actually Michael caused most of the worst ones. He made a huge scratch on a babies head one day and another time he teethed on another babies hand for a couple of minutes before the staff noticed.
If it's the older kids that bother you in particular maybe you could asked to be notified ahead of time if they are going to be there during the day so that you can make other arrangements?
baby's... oy, my grammar is horrible tonight.
I'm glad dumpling is ok. I don't have solutions- I'm sorry!!- but I can share your anxiety. I have the hub home with the kids & I am very nervous about Pumpkin being the kid that hurts 2.0... I worry about him being distracted & tired & grumpy & her deciding to 'help' with the baby & smothering him. And he's not even here yet.
Anxiety is normal- but somehow we have to learn to deal with it because there aren't always better alternatives or options. And I think all the kids ~will~ get used to having a baby around, there will probably always be something that happens outside of your control, but we have to hope that everything will be ok at some point.
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