I Survived .....

I always giggle when I see people where those T-shirts with the slogans, "I Survived ..... " and it went on to boast about a social event like a Margarita Fest or scaling a daunting mountain and the individual lived to tell about it. I would always secretly wonder what possessed people to own shirts like these because they always seemed a little tacky to me. Now I know better.

People wear these shirts with pride because they truly did accomplish a great feat of surviving whatever the event was and what ever the odds were that went along with it. They wear these shirts with inner pride and I am willing to bet they are secretly yearning for someone to come up and inquire about this loud shirt in hopes that they would get to tell their story about this amazing feat. I mean why not? Everyone takes pride when they achieve a milestone, goal or just something plain out of the ordinary.

I am getting a shirt made up. I am hoping that I can find a company that will express courier it to me because I survived "The First Day of Daycare In My Home". There were times it wasn't easy folks and I distinctly remember looking at my watch yesterday morning and thinking to myself, "What kind of torture have I cooked for myself this time ..... it is only 9:00 am". Luckily, the day did get better but still, it was a long one. A light of dawning shone down on me yesterday that could be akin of a slap in the face of reality. This is not going to be an easy job. In fact, it is probably going to be the toughest job that I have ever had. The good news here is that I perform well under pressure and tense situations. We had our first discipline issue right off the bat yesterday morning and we dealt with it accordingly. One of the children, which is normal, had to test the limits to see how far they could go. Unfortunately for them, I reigned them in rather quickly, but while doing so, I thought in the back of my mind, "Oh this is real fun, you have to be so careful in the way you present yourself. Tread carefully because these little buggers could nail you to the wall."

And because I am a direct individual, the parents and I discussed the day in length last night getting a feel for how my children, myself and their children all handled our first day together. I reminded the parents of what my expectations and rules are and specifically asked them if that was going to be an issue for them or their children. Luckily, the parents are on the same page with me so at least there will be consistency in the gentle rules for all children involved.

This isn't going to be an easy job, no way. But, I will have to focus on the positive rather than the negative or else this endeavour could become a real chore. No one puked yesterday, no one had an avoidable potty accident yesterday, no one got hurt and no one cried. Instead, there was a lot of laughter that could be heard coming from this house and only perhaps a half a dozen times, could the stern Mommy voice be detected from our overly amplified windows and yard.

So, being unsure of what each day will bring forth with this daycare experience, perhaps I should have my T-Shirt read: "I Survived Daycare .... Yesterday ... And Have Lived To Talk About It!!"