The Baby Expert: Back to School

After asking me for what seemed like the millionth whether or not we should send Caitlyn back to nursery school, and after replying back for the millionth time that we should, the wife has finally made a decision. It’s back to half-days at school this week!

I think the wife was just tired of Caitlyn constantly asking to watch TV or use the iPad while at home. Sending her off to school is a good way to avoid that. And now is probably as good a time as ever since Caitlyn is becoming much better at not being attached to Mommy’s hips.

The wife settled on a place that opened up not too long ago. It’s spanking brand new and only has a class size of 3 toddlers along with a baby or two. So far so good, right? But as usual, the wife had to find something to worry herself about.

Apparently, one of the teachers there is a male and that makes her nervous. She says that she's not sure if she would feel comfortable having a male handling or changing our child’s diaper. If that’s the case, should we also feel uncomfortable having a female teacher change our child’s diaper if we had a son?

I, for one, am tired of all the bad rap that male teachers who teach elementary school kids and younger get. What’s with the notion that these teachers are probably creeps. Unfortunately, it is stereotypes like these that probably keep good, qualified male teachers out of nursery and primary classrooms.

I’m not saying that there aren’t a few bad male apples out there, but there are plenty of female teachers who can join that group too. So, it’s a bit unfair in my opinion to assume that we should only keep a watchful eye out for male teachers.

But anyway, how did the first day go, you ask? Are we going to have the same problems that we had at the last place? So far, it doesn’t look like it. They’ve clearly stated that they want parents completely out by the third day. And in our case, it was the first day.

That’s right! Once Caitlyn got to the school, she turned to Mommy, said bye-bye, and seemed to mean it. The teacher suggested the wife try leaving and for the next hour and a half, Caitlyn spent her time exploring the place without crying. The next step is to see if she’s willing to eat lunch there by herself.