It turns out that the day didn’t go badly for my son at all. The accounts given to us by the employees and the administrator were extremely positive. They told us that he had the best first day of any of the babies at this relatively new facility. That sure does make Mom & Dad feel good.
That evening my son was laughing with glee and giggling more than he ever had before. He was happy. He was at his house with his parents and they were spending time with him. I’m not certain that this wasn’t influenced heavily by his day without Mom & Dad (though it could have been developmental). This is not a wholly negative side effect of day care: loving his parents more and cherishing his time with them.
So far our son has not cried a single tear when he was left at the day care. One of my fears, of course, was that our son would (and still might) figure out was is going on enough to cry tears that would weaken his poor parents’ hearts into some sort of financial or personal ruin in order to prevent his rightful tears. This has not, thankfully, happened.
My wife and I are confident that we will be able to find a different solution for the next semester when I am finished with my course work. I should, in theory, be able to care for our son during the day, teach at night, and somehow study for my final exams for my PhD.
Whether or not this will be possible my wife and I are willing to deal with a great deal of difficulty to keep our son with his family. Down here (in Texas) his family is us. I’m not generally jealous of anyone or anything but my brother lives near our parents and has a family presence close by. I am envious of that gift. He knows he’s lucky.