Caroline Starts Daycare

I might actually get to finish my coffee this morning because Caroline is at daycare! Milton and I dropped her off this morning. I know she is going to have the best time playing and making new friends.

Similar Dress | Bow | Shoes | Similar Backpack | Letter Board

Caroline Starts Part-Time Daycare

Monday was supposed to be Caroline’s first day of daycare, but Tropical Storm Beta changed those plans. I have mixed emotions, but I have been mentally preparing myself for a few extra days now. Caroline will be going to daycare three days a week. I am thrilled for Caroline to go to daycare and make friends. I’m confident that she will get the hang of things quickly. On the other hand, I know I am going to struggle with letting go of control of her day. I have no doubt that she is in good hands, but for the first time in 19 months I will not be in control. That will be a challenge for me, but I know I can do it.

On the flip side, I have SO MANY things that I want to get done with this time. Milton and my dad both asked me, “What are you going to do while she is gone?” Well, first I would like to be able to go to the bathroom by myself. Obviously, I’ll get some household work done, and then spend time working on the blog! Maybe I’ll get more consistent with it like I have been talking about for two years.

Getting Ready for School

I admit, I am a complete newbie and I have a lot to learn about the ins and out of daycare. Labels, lunch box, napping mat, the list goes on. If you have any tips for me PLEASE SHARE. In the mean time, I’ll share with you what I have done to get Caroline ready for school.

Labels

I was low-key excited about ordering Caroline’s labels for daycare. Etsy has tons of shops that offer cute labels for clothes (iron on), and for food containers and cups (water-proof). However, I didn’t realize until after I received my order that I totally over-paid for labels. The specific Etsy shop I ordered from has their labels priced $5.99 for 16 labels. Quick math: that is $0.37 per label. If I had taken Etsy out as the middle-man and gone straight to their website: $6.99 for 48 labels = $0.14 per label. UGH! You live and you learn, though. Her labels are from hanstamping.com

Pillow and Blanket

Our daycare asks for a pillow, blanket, and mini crib sheet to go over their mat for naps. This morning at drop off I saw quite a few kids with their own napping mats. If you have one that your kiddo loves please share!

I started giving Caroline a toddler pillow to sleep with a few weeks ago. I ordered this set of two from Amazon and these pillowcases. At first she didn’t sleep on the pillow at all, but now it is like the pillow has always been there. I know kids lose stuff or things get mixed up at daycare, so I sent her with a blanket that she is not partial to. I did label it with her name (I labelled just about everything lol).

Backpack and Lunchbox

Caroline’s backpack is a few years old from Jadelynn Brooke. This specific backpack is no longer available, but they have new backpacks with the same pockets! I love this bag. I have one as well and it holds my computer and camera with ease. I got her monogram done locally at Gracie’s on the Strand.

Caroline went to daycare with plenty of snacks in her lunchbox this morning (they serve lunch). Fun fact: in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Still Have Her Mom Pack A Lunch”. That being said, I have quite a few lunch boxes lying around in the house. I don’t currently have a photo of it, but it is a foldable bag. Kind of paper-bag style like this one.