So my husband Taylor and I had this "animated discussion" the other day...
I was trying to explain to him why my job dropping our 4-month-old son off at the daycare is like, a trillion times more stressful than his job of picking the baby up.
Taylor thinks his job is much harder. Thing is... he has to fly down the highway from his job in Mequon to the daycare in Oak Creek in order to get the kid before 6 p.m.
Any later than that, and the daycare starts charging a $5/minute late fee.
You heard me. $5 a minute!!! My daycare doesn't play.
Taylor says on the days he has to pick up, he's completely stressed, as he prays for smooth sailing on the highway.
I get that... that is stressful. But I have my own stresses to deal with as the parent who drops off.
Because I'm the one who has to make sure the kid is fed, dressed, and in a relatively good mood by daycare time. I also have to pack the daycare bag... which needs to include fresh bottles, formula, clothes and whatever other accoutrements junior needs on any given day.
And then there's the stress of the drop off...
The first day I cried so hard I think I actually embarassed my son. He kind of looked around the room like he wanted to tell someone, "I have no idea who this crazy heffer is."
Things are dramatically better now. I've mastered the art of handing off the boy to a staff that I adore and trust. I wish him goodbye and good luck and can dart through the door fairly quickly.
But a show of hands working mommas: Isn't there still that little bit of guilt tugging at you as you head down the highway?
Do I hear an amen?
Taylor on the other hand, is the parent who gets to swoop in and bring the boy home. It's all smiles and laughter when Daddy shows up. And Taylor usually just grabs the kid, throws whatever he finds into the diaper bag, then rolls on over to my daughter's school, and liberates her as well.
He's the hero. And I feel like the enforcer.
So I will argue that we "drop off parents" have the tougher job.
And it's another challenge of working motherhood, that I think I've finally mastered.
