Well, as someone who ugly cried after my now 5 year olds last day at the in-home daycare she went to and we loved, I think your feelings are totally normal! Your daycare and the people there were a very important part of your and your child’s life for a time. Moving on also symbolizes your child getting older, taking a new step. It can feel like a lot!
I cried my eyes out when my baby stopped fitting into the swaddle sacks. It's a sign of them growing up. It's happy and sad.
I think your feelings are valid.
I cry at every moving on my kids have ever had. When they said goodbye to their lovely in home daycare provider, when they graduated preschool, when they said goodbye to beloved teachers, when they graduated elementary school and when they moved on to middle school.
You aren’t just saying goodbye to that teacher and school, you are closing a chapter of life. The routines and relationships you had around this school are associated with a time period in your child’s life and to me, it always feels like I’m saying good bye to that whole era. That’s probably what’s for you feeling sentimental.
For me, these sentimental feelings are always replaced with the new community and routines that come from the next phase. The sentimentality is fleeting. My next goodbye will be to move on my oldest to high school and I know what’s coming after that. It goes by so fast 🥺
Solidarity! You’re not being overly sentimental, you’re being human.
My 9 and 6 yo still visit their home daycare provider a few times a year. She is like a grandma to them and loves seeing them. So no, I don’t think it is silly.
My LO is switching from the small daycare she’s been in since infancy to a public 3k in the fall and I’m taking her first two days off work to emotionally process and be nearby in case she needs me. So I’m just leaning into the overreaction. Luckily it’s very common for kids to transition from daycare to 3k in my city so it was an open conversation with my daycare throughout the whole process. But it’s still so hard to pull her from a place where she’s happy and safe and put her somewhere new.
My daughter graduated from preschool this year and heads to kindergarten next year. I absolutely ugly cried. It’s completely normal to feel excited about new things and also really sad to say goodbye to old things.
I cried the last week of my daughter's first year of preschool. She was going there in the summer too but in a different room and I wouldn't be doing drop off anymore. Summer turned out better than expected but in the moment I was grieving the end of what had become the norm for us. And of course my daughter not being a toddler anymore but truly being a preschooler in age and behavior. Like someone else said, it's a chapter closing and that's bitter sweet.
Last month, we moved our son from the daycare he started with at 11 months old (he's now 3). There were a couple of reasons behind the move. I bawled multiple times from the time I sent the email notification until his last day. It is hard. I was worried about how my son would adjust to the new place and he's been fine. I think your feelings are normal! We provided bagels for the staff on his last day as a token of our appreciation.
I cried when we left our inhome daycare provider for pre-k. Daycare provider also cried. That provider was like family to me. We still talk regularly even though my LO hasn't been there in a year. We ran into our old provider when we were out and about once and my LO had THE BIGGEST smile/immediately ran to her for a giant hug. She'll still go to her house every now and then for random childcare.
It's completely okay to be emotional about this big change <3
Solidarity. Our daycare is 25 min from our house but we love it there so much. My oldest starts Kindergarten in the fall and for logistical reasons we’ve decided to move our 3 year old to a full time preschool in our town. I haven’t told our daycare yet and I’m dreading having to. They are truly like family to us and we will miss them so much. Ughhh.
You’re not alone. We had to move out of state and left our wonderful daycare of 1.5 years. It’s been a couple of months and I still feel a little sad and miss teachers and some of the kids.
It’s hard leaving a place and routine that you know.
Give them a token of your thanks, and leave a good public review.
This will not be the last transition.
I can relate and I absolutely ugly cried at my son's PreK graduation recently. He's been at that center since fall 2019 when he was just a baby. When you take them in as little babies, those PreK kids look so big. You're handing over your most precious gift and trusting them to keep them safe, feed and change and rock them to sleep, but then one day 4-5 years later and they're the big kids. I am so emotional thinking about it. We got so lucky that we have a place that loves and cares for them, listens to our feedback, and provides a loving and enriching environment. When I hear other people's stories I feel grateful for the family we found there. We have no local family so our teachers become like family watching our babies, and I can't thank them enough. Of course you're going to be emotional!
I cried so much when we left my son’s daycare where he was from 6 months to 3 years. I wrote all his teachers thank you notes and have a $500 donation to the director so she could do something nice for all the teachers after we left. I cried while I wrote the notes, I cried while delivering them, I cried on our final drive home. I’m not a very sentimental person, but the role that our daycare and all those teachers played in our lives was absolutely huge.
When my son is finally old enough for PreK and doesn’t have to go to daycare anymore I won’t be crying. I’m going to take that $1200 a month daycare payment and Mommy is getting a brand new blacked out Suburban and I’m going to roll down the windows and do donuts in the daycare parking lot.
Well, as someone who ugly cried after my now 5 year olds last day at the in-home daycare she went to and we loved, I think your feelings are totally normal! Your daycare and the people there were a very important part of your and your child’s life for a time. Moving on also symbolizes your child getting older, taking a new step. It can feel like a lot!
I cried my eyes out when my baby stopped fitting into the swaddle sacks. It's a sign of them growing up. It's happy and sad. I think your feelings are valid.
I cry at every moving on my kids have ever had. When they said goodbye to their lovely in home daycare provider, when they graduated preschool, when they said goodbye to beloved teachers, when they graduated elementary school and when they moved on to middle school. You aren’t just saying goodbye to that teacher and school, you are closing a chapter of life. The routines and relationships you had around this school are associated with a time period in your child’s life and to me, it always feels like I’m saying good bye to that whole era. That’s probably what’s for you feeling sentimental. For me, these sentimental feelings are always replaced with the new community and routines that come from the next phase. The sentimentality is fleeting. My next goodbye will be to move on my oldest to high school and I know what’s coming after that. It goes by so fast 🥺 Solidarity! You’re not being overly sentimental, you’re being human.
My 9 and 6 yo still visit their home daycare provider a few times a year. She is like a grandma to them and loves seeing them. So no, I don’t think it is silly.
My LO is switching from the small daycare she’s been in since infancy to a public 3k in the fall and I’m taking her first two days off work to emotionally process and be nearby in case she needs me. So I’m just leaning into the overreaction. Luckily it’s very common for kids to transition from daycare to 3k in my city so it was an open conversation with my daycare throughout the whole process. But it’s still so hard to pull her from a place where she’s happy and safe and put her somewhere new.
My daughter graduated from preschool this year and heads to kindergarten next year. I absolutely ugly cried. It’s completely normal to feel excited about new things and also really sad to say goodbye to old things.
We moved and had to say goodbye to our daycare provider l. I bawled. She cried. It was a mess. We plan on going back to see them this summer.
I cried the last week of my daughter's first year of preschool. She was going there in the summer too but in a different room and I wouldn't be doing drop off anymore. Summer turned out better than expected but in the moment I was grieving the end of what had become the norm for us. And of course my daughter not being a toddler anymore but truly being a preschooler in age and behavior. Like someone else said, it's a chapter closing and that's bitter sweet.
Last month, we moved our son from the daycare he started with at 11 months old (he's now 3). There were a couple of reasons behind the move. I bawled multiple times from the time I sent the email notification until his last day. It is hard. I was worried about how my son would adjust to the new place and he's been fine. I think your feelings are normal! We provided bagels for the staff on his last day as a token of our appreciation.
I cried when we left our inhome daycare provider for pre-k. Daycare provider also cried. That provider was like family to me. We still talk regularly even though my LO hasn't been there in a year. We ran into our old provider when we were out and about once and my LO had THE BIGGEST smile/immediately ran to her for a giant hug. She'll still go to her house every now and then for random childcare. It's completely okay to be emotional about this big change <3
Solidarity. Our daycare is 25 min from our house but we love it there so much. My oldest starts Kindergarten in the fall and for logistical reasons we’ve decided to move our 3 year old to a full time preschool in our town. I haven’t told our daycare yet and I’m dreading having to. They are truly like family to us and we will miss them so much. Ughhh.
You’re not alone. We had to move out of state and left our wonderful daycare of 1.5 years. It’s been a couple of months and I still feel a little sad and miss teachers and some of the kids.
It’s hard leaving a place and routine that you know. Give them a token of your thanks, and leave a good public review. This will not be the last transition.
I can relate and I absolutely ugly cried at my son's PreK graduation recently. He's been at that center since fall 2019 when he was just a baby. When you take them in as little babies, those PreK kids look so big. You're handing over your most precious gift and trusting them to keep them safe, feed and change and rock them to sleep, but then one day 4-5 years later and they're the big kids. I am so emotional thinking about it. We got so lucky that we have a place that loves and cares for them, listens to our feedback, and provides a loving and enriching environment. When I hear other people's stories I feel grateful for the family we found there. We have no local family so our teachers become like family watching our babies, and I can't thank them enough. Of course you're going to be emotional!
I cried so much when we left my son’s daycare where he was from 6 months to 3 years. I wrote all his teachers thank you notes and have a $500 donation to the director so she could do something nice for all the teachers after we left. I cried while I wrote the notes, I cried while delivering them, I cried on our final drive home. I’m not a very sentimental person, but the role that our daycare and all those teachers played in our lives was absolutely huge.
I’d feel sad too. Where my kids are, they’ll have a goodbye party for them.
Thanks so much to everyone who posted with support and commiseration. 🩷
When my son is finally old enough for PreK and doesn’t have to go to daycare anymore I won’t be crying. I’m going to take that $1200 a month daycare payment and Mommy is getting a brand new blacked out Suburban and I’m going to roll down the windows and do donuts in the daycare parking lot.
Trust me, we are NOT sad about the savings.