A Plum!

This week we have our own little plum for a moment! Approximately 2.1 inches long, and weighing in at the grand total of almost half an ounce, this week our child continues to grow. As we draw nearer to the end of the first trimester, the child shifts from development into growth--amazingly, almost everything major is in place as the ears shift into their final location, and so we will soon enter the second trimester with the same amazement and wonder that saw us enter the first!

I can't tell the difference between the size of a lime (11 weeks) and a plum (12 weeks), but I know that October draws near, and we wait, unprepared, humbled and awed.

We went daycare shopping last Friday. We visited four separate daycares, each well-qualified, and each deserving of consideration. But when we wandered into the relatively new Best Beginnings on Hickory Valley Road, we were amazed at the wonders that awaited us beyond the doors. Rooms set aside just for painting, another just for dance and play, and little details set at the eye-level of a child! It seems that not a detail was overlooked, and as we toured the place and heard of the multi-cultural focus we knew that this was a place that would not only be suitable, but a place where we could be excited to send our child each day.

And yet, we still struggle with the very idea of daycare. We are going against thousands of years of nature, sending our child in its fragile and vulnerable days to be cared for by others. We are setting aside our heart's desires and trusting it to the care of perfect strangers, although we trust that, in time, they will become friends. We have done our research, and know that this is what must come, and while we love the daycare, we do so with heavy hearts, despite the fact that they know far more about how to raise children than we do!

I will freely admit that I bear some trepidation about the days to come, dropping off such a treasure to be cared for by others, worried about missing special moments, about not being worthy as a parent, not making enough sacrifices. Perhaps this guilt will disappear with time, but in the meantime I wonder and I worry, hoping that we are doing the right thing, and yet wondering if there is not some other, better way.

Perhaps things will change, but until they do, we will go forward with plan A, hoping that we are doing the right thing.