The Children's Place

Today we went to "The Children's Place," a volunteer run family support center and drop-off day care here in town. I have volunteered with them off and on over the past two and a half years. I taught Jasper to call it "my pre-school" so he actually wants to go. Essentially it is several large rooms of good toys, a great teacher who has been there for nearly thirty years, and a few parents standing around either complaining or bragging about their children. Several of the children who have been dropped off (you can leave them for up to three hours) are usually crying, as they generally have stay-at-home moms and are not used to being in day care, and this raises the general anxiety level in the room. But it is a good place and Jasper is now comfortable there. The only time I tried to leave him on his own (before Josie was born), they called me and asked me to come and get him because he would not stop crying. Today when I told him it was time to go he screamed at me, "Leave me! Leave me!" I call this progress. Josie seemed to enjoy her time there as well, being a big hit with the three year old girls.