Total Pageviews

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Weighing in on Anisha's 1st day at DAYCARE!!! and other stuff

So the big news this week here in Prince Albert is that Anisha started Daycare. For the last two months, she had been going part-time to full time at a local Dayhome with a lady in the east end of town. I always wondered what would have happened if the Dayhome lady got sick. Then, on Tuesday, we got a call from the Daycare, that was our 1st choice for Anisha, to say that there was an opening for her. She had been on their wait-list for about two months. Alison and I were so excited. Getting into a Daycare is very hard in Canada, and most of the wait-lists Anisha was on here in Prince Albert were about 2 or more pages long (6 months to 2 years long) and she was at the end of the list.
The Daycare is called Dayspring and it is run out of the Prince Albert Family church near downtown. They have a VERY clean place, lots of great staff, a cook that makes all the meals, and they promote good Christian values in their Daycare (after all, it is run by the church). This is not the church we attend, but it is great to know that not only will Anisha have more kids to interact with, a set "schedule" (loosely used as she is still 13.5 months old and can't follow a structured schedule), and well documented reports on her daily activities, she will also get some religious/Christian basis to all the activities, themes and interactions.
No, they are not a cult or prone to brainwashing children as my mom might suggest, but, especially with the older kids, their games and activities are based on Christian values and the kids learn to pray and are prayed for. The only thing about this Daycare which is different is that they don't celebrate Halloween. It is, apparently, against Christian values for them. I can see and respect that. That's ok. We'll still celebrate Halloween at home.



















You can see from the pics above that is is a nice looking place and that Anisha is having fun.

As for Alison and I:

Ali is still working hard at the hospital and trudging through her new Hip and Knee clinic she helps to run once a week. Tonight is the new Rehab staff BBQ at Little Red River Park for the new staff and family. This weekend, Ali and Anisha go with Ali's Spark group to Prince Albert National Park in near Waskesiu for a day hike. I will be working at Sylvan while they are gone.

As for me, Subbing work is slowing down with the end of the year and finals. I only get 2-3 calls a week now, if that. I had a wickedly good game of Ultimate Frisbee with Ali's work group last night. I helped get two "goals" and did some awesome moves. I did however stretch my hip flexor so now I limp a wee bit. I did lose another pound which is great so I am now down to 343 lbs and only 2 pounds away from my goal.

I apparently touched some nerves with my last post. I know I have a natural gift to push buttons, but I just wanted to state my experiences and that was it. Those were my views and I stick to them.
The anonymous poster from yesterday made a comment about the male/female differences in planning. That got me reflecting a bit on my experiences as a Stay-at-home-Dad.

I am a HUGE advocate for men and their role in their family and get royally pissed off when people say that the role men play in the family cannot compare to the women. Other than breastfeeding, ANY man can be just as nurturing as a woman in caring for their child. Not all men are, but for the few who do step up, I think a little respect is deserved.
I was a stay-at-home dad for almost 9 months here and while I thoroughly LOVED it, I often was seen as a novelty and approached in a demeaning manner. I would often get comments like, "Oh how nice to see a man involved," or, "Good for you." While I am sure that these people were sincere in their comments, I felt like a number of the people who said them said it with the undertone you would give a child who told you a something that was nonsensical and your response was, "Oh that's nice." (Yes, I am guilty of that too with some elementary kids I teach who insist on non stop blabbering about stories that go no where and take up class time)
So while the role of a mom who stays home with the kids gets little fanfare at times, the role of the dad who stays home gets even less. You see it from the strong support of Mother's day and the toned down Father's day. They say that everyone has a mother. Well, everyone needs a father figure and I am proud to be one to Anisha. No woman, in their right mind, can raise their child alone without a male presence. ALL children need a male and female presence in their lives.

No, I am not searching for sympathy, compassion or a "woe is me" feel for what I wrote. I am a big boy who feels EXTREMELY proud to have been home with Anisha and I wanted to bring my experiences as a stay-at-home dad to those who may not understand what we men go through who stay home. I am proud to say I had, and still have, a great dad who took care of me and I hope to be at least half the father to Anisha what my dad was to me.

So maybe this is my Father's day rant. I really go off topic when I rant and end up somewhere else from where I started. How odd. Maybe that's why I can't write a book. lol.

Have a good week everyone!

2 comments:

Lindsey said...

The daycare looks very clean and it sounds like they'll take good care of Anisha! Only a two month wait is awesome! I still haven't got call backs from last August when I called for Daycares.

Anonymous said...

This site could have helped while you were looking for daycare. www.godaycare.com