To daycare... or not to daycare?

I don't have work outside of my home, but one of my kids goes to a nursery school here in town.  That would be Maggie.  I was hardly ready to put her in any sort of daycare when the time came, but it was out of necessity.  Matt and I had to attend a class for 5 days, no kids allowed.  We went ahead and signed her up for the whole month, so I could unpack boxes in peace.  We had just moved to Japan.  She was nearing seven months old, and my milk was starting to go away.  Soon I found out I was pregnant again.  Of course, the first thing to happen was she got really sick the next week.  She's gotten sick several times since then, but at least it made me go ahead and figure out the doctor thing here.  She was only in it for part of June, all of July, and a few days in August, because we went back to the  States for a wedding and then Matt had a school. We got back to Japan around Thanksgiving and decided to put her in again starting in December.  At this point, she was scooting and sometimes walking around and playing, so I felt a little less guilty about it.

In the end, it turns out that nursery school here in Japan is a good thing for Maggie and for our family.  First of all, it forces us to deal in Japanese.  Do you see this journal that I have to fill out everyday before taking her in?  And when I get her back at the end of the day, I get the same in return, plus a cute report in Japanese to decipher, but our reward is that we get to hear about Maggie's day, even though she can't speak.

Maggie decided that today she wanted to ride in her chariot to go to daycare.  This is not our yard, by the way.  Matt only wishes it was.

Maggie runs right in and takes her shoes off just like a little Japanese kid!

At school, they feed them Bento Box lunches.  At home we keep Maggie on a similar diet of rice balls and seaweed, along with a healthy serving of fruit.

In addition to being exposed to Japanese language, culture and food, Maggie probably has a much better day at the nursery school than she would at home with Arthur and me.  Most of my day at home is spent preparing some sort of fun meal for dinner (which Maggie is welcome to eat but seldom wants), keeping up with laundry (among other things we have to hang clothes out to dry here, so it's an ordeal...), and maybe embarking on some other bigger picture project (that is, if Arthur will allow it).  At nursery school, the entire day is geared towards things Maggie wants to do, like play with blocks, go on walks, and run around like a crazy person with her tomodachis (friends).

I was in the hospital for five days after a normal unmedicated vaginal delivery of Arthur.  That's the standard stay after childbirth in Japan.  Visiting hours were from 3PM to 7PM.  Thus, he was basically an only-child for those 5 days, thanks to his grandmothers who were taking care of Maggie while I was in the hospital.  I had a tearful moment the morning I was scheduled to leave the hospital when I realized our homecoming meant the end of both Maggie and Arthur's only-childhoods.  Thanks to Maggie going to nursery school, Arthur gets a decent helping of the only-childhood Maggie had.

Maggie LOVES her new baby brother, so he needs lots of protection from her affection, which can be a little intense at times.  It's very exciting, though, to think of what good little buddies they will becomes as they grow up together!  Maybe one day, Maggie will hold his little hand on his first day of nursery school...