I set my alarm for half an hour earlier than usual this morning so that I'd have plenty of time to get ready and eat breakfast before the school run. An unpictured skimmed latte plus a bowl of granola, yoghurt and strawberries:
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| This bowl looks a lot smaller than it was - there was more granola & yoghurt hidden under the strawberries! |
After we took Izzy to school, Toby and I picked up my sister, Sarah, and drove to a sports centre about half an hour away from us. Me driving in itself was a big deal as I don't drive very often and don't have a lot of confidence. Sarah parked for me when we got to the sports centre as the car park was really busy, but apart from that the drive went fine. More important than that though...when we got there Toby went for his first ever childcare session!!
The gym/swimming pool in the town I live in don't have a creche which is a shame, but this sports centre is also included in my gym membership and for only £1.20 for a 2 hour session, Toby can be looked after while I exercise. Brilliant! As soon as we arrived at the creche, Toby ran straight in and immediately started playing, so when he still hadn't looked my way once in the 10 minutes I spent filling in forms and chatting to the staff, I made the decision to leave without saying goodbye (sob!) so as not to upset him. I was definitely way more emotional about our "first proper separation" than he was!!!!
Happy that he was being well looked after and that they would put a call out for me if there were any problems, Sarah and I headed to the gym. I did 20 minutes on the cross trainer and then spent about 20 minutes on the different weight machines before finishing off with some ab exercises and stretching. We then headed over to the swimming pool and swam 30 lengths (half breast stroke, half front crawl) in just under 25 minutes. We had to cut our swim slightly short as it was time to go and pick up this little guy...
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| Trying to smile whilst actually munching on a piece of bread - he's not actually worried as he looks! |
I was so pleased/relieved to hear that he'd had a great time. Lots of playing, no crying, apparently he'd asked "where's mama?" a few times but had been happy with the response that I was swimming. Asking where people are is his current "thing" anyway - I spend most of that day telling him where Izzy & Liam are! The creche seemed really nice - there were three other little boys there while Toby was there, and two staff members. My sister is off work again next week (before starting a new job the following week) so we are going to go over again one day next week and then after that I will have to drive over on my own (eek!). It is great for Toby to have a chance to spend some time away from me, and also nice for me to be able to exercise during the day - win win!
By the time I got home I was absolutely starving! I quickly gave Toby some lunch and put him down for a nap, and then I made myself a bagel with mashed (very ripe) avocado and Munchy seeds:
This was amazing! I inhaled the first half because I was so hungry, and then slowed down to appreciate the second half. Such a great combination. I love it when an avocado is perfectly ripe, and the fluffy bagel and savoury seeds went perfectly with it! Yum.
You'd think that a 530 calorie lunch would satisfy me, but I was still feeling a little hungry. I had some water and waited half an hour, and then had "dessert" of Total 0% Greek yoghurt mixed with cocoa powder and agave nectar:
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| Please excuse the messy mixed-in bowl! |
I love this for a quick sweet treat - almost like eating a light version of chocolate frosting! I have such a sweet tooth that my mind often doesn't think a meal is complete until I've eaten something sweet, so things like this are a good solution.
And now there is only half an hour left until we need to go pick Izzy up from school. Toby is still fast asleep so I'm going to have to wake him in a bit - all that playing tired him out! Today has gone really quickly, but in a good way - it's been fun! :)
Those of you have children, can you remember when you first took them to childcare? Did you feel emotional?? Izzy went to nursery from when she was 6 weeks old, and then a childminder from when she was 2, before going to pre-school aged 3.5. I remember feeling a bit anxious/tearful each time, but I soon realised that she was happy and let her get on with it. She's always been used to being around lots of different people, so is very confident in that respect. Toby, on the other hand, hardly ever leaves my side! He was 2 back in January and I think the only time we've left him is for one night for our birthday last May, and then for our honeymoon last July. Both times were with family though so I was a bit worried how he was going to react being left with people he didn't know today. He did great though, and I now feeling much happier taking him there again. Phew! :)
Do you prefer exercising in the daytime or the evening? Which do you do most often? I definitely prefer exercising in the daytime, but unfortunately this isn't usually possible. Our local gym and swimming pool don't open until 7am, and Liam leaves for work at 7.15am so that's no good. He then doesn't get home until 6.30pm so if I want to exercise it has to be in the cold, dark (!) evenings. I'm hoping it will be easier in the summer, but for now exercising once or twice a week - either at the weekends or by putting Toby in creche once a week - is a good compromise. Then I'll see if I can muster up extra motivation for an evening workout or two!
Jared went to nursery from about 18 months old and Jake from about 12 months, they were both very happy with it, there were the odd days where we had to tare them away form me but that would be because they were tired or not 100% .... they generally got over it before I had even left the nursery :-) THey were always more cautious the few times I took them to gym nursery but that was possibly because it wasn't THEIR nursery so its fab that Toby had fun ... do expect him to be a bit more clingy next time though but be tough - the staff know how to distract and get them playing.
ReplyDeleteYes, Izzy was like that at nursery - she loved it but the few times she did cry I would wait (out of sight) in the reception area, and she would stop within a minute or so. I think because she started so young (most babies didn't start until about 6 months so whilst they officially took them from 6 weeks, she was the youngest one) she was rather spoilt - it was the staff members getting emotional when she moved from "their" baby room to the next room up!!
DeleteI did think Toby might be a bit more wary next time when he knows that I'm about to leave! The staff were really reassuring though - they asked at what stage I wanted to be contacted and we agreed that they'd try to comfort/distract him but if he was still crying after 10 mins or so then they'd put a call out for me. We're going to go again next Tuesday so hopefully he'll remember the fun he had rather than the fact I wasn't there!
Wow, so glad you've had a positive experience sending Toby to the creche.
ReplyDeleteSounds great that you can get into a routine of exercising during the day. I used to love exercising before Uni really early in the morning. But my current gym doesn't open until 9am so I have to go after work. It's not tas busy as you would expect at 5pm, but I used to love knowing my work out was done for the day so I could relax and chill out in the evenings. Now I leave home at 8.30 and get home around 7pm, then have to shower and make dinner etc. Leaves no time for much relaxing!!
Glad it was a positive experience for you all. I don't have children, but when I was teaching in the Nursery it was so much better if the parents said a quick bye and then left. It was usually the parents who were more emotional about saying goodbye and then this would upset the children. Sometimes the children might be tearful, but if you distracted them (and said the parents were popping to the school office or something) then they would very quickly cheer up and find something to play with, and would be fine. We always let the parents phone to check that the children were fine ,as for them it was hard to leave. So it is really good that Toby enjoyed it and also that you were happy to leave him there. And well done for the driving too- I put off learning until my final year of uni (I knew that when I got a teaching job I would need to drive) and it really terrified me. I was nervous for about a year after passing my test- I would go longer routes to avoid turning right at junctions/ avoid steep hills and things like that! And park the furthest away from the shops so as to have time and space to park. But it does become more natural, so keep up the practise. Also I love the idea of mashed avocado on a bagel- yum. And finally (what a long comment) I prefer to exercise in the morning after breakfast, but with work that just does not fit, so I go out after work but before dinner as then I can spend the evening with Andy still. And look forward to a morning run at the weekend and in the holidays :)
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