Nursery

Here is Ian on his first day of nursery

Ian is now old enough to begin nursery at our church, which means that now we only have to wrestle to keep him calm and quiet for the first meeting, and then he gets to go off to learn about Jesus and play and eat snacks for the remaining two hours with a bunch of other kids his age. Scott and I have spent the last 9 months of church pacing the halls with Ian, dreaming of the day when Ian would begin nursery. And yet, like some other anticipated milestones I can think of, this transition was heart wrenching for me.

After all, Ian and I have spent very little of his 19.5 months apart. I have been the primary overseer of his learning and growth. And I like it that way. It is hard for me to know that when he goes to nursery, there is a part of his life that I will know so little about. His teachers (who I hear are wonderful) will teach him things. He'll play with other kids (and sometimes they might be mean to him!) and I won't be there to watch. He has only been there once, and he has already come home singing songs that someone else taught him. My baby is growing up. From this point onward, I will have less and less control and influence in his life. His world will continue to expand. It hasn't helped that I have had nightmares of going to pick Ian up from nursery, only to discover that the nursery leaders let some kidnapper pick Ian up after nursery. I know this nursery thing is far more dramatic for me than for many mothers. But tell me... am I the only one who felt this way?

As I sat at home with Joseph while Ian and Scott were at church last Sunday, I actually found myself watching the clock, thinking... "Okay, it's 3:13. Sacrament meeting is over and now they are walking to nursery." "Now it's 3:50. Ian is totally in nursery." "It's 5:05, Scott is probably going to pick him up right now!" Thankfully, Scott knows and loves me, and called at 5:10 pm on his way home from church to report that Ian loved nursery and was coming home safe and sound.

Don't get me wrong -- nursery is going to be great for me. I am thrilled to be going to Sunday School and Relief Society tomorrow, knowing that I will be able to stay more than the first 4 minutes. (Of course, the countdown begins for Joseph to become the squirmer/screamer who we pace the halls with.)

And I am relieved that Ian has taken to nursery quite readily. He actually could have started going to nursery almost two months ago, but between the hurricane, Stake and General Conference, and a new baby in the family, we just haven't been to church much. So there wasn't any easing Ian into nursery like I had expected. And I'd been prepared for Ian to have a hard time with the adjustment, too. But Scott tells me Ian was eager to play from the beginning, and after changing Ian's diaper and bringing him back to nursery, Ian just marched right back in and didn't look back. This kid was supposed to be going through separation anxiety. But apparently nursery is cool enough to make a kid forget his parents.

Hopefully I will be able to drop Ian off at nursery tomorrow and not linger by the door for the next 2 hours. Heaven help me when Ian starts all-day Kindergarten.