Samuel began adaptation at Halte Garderie today

The new halte garderie has a long adaptation schedule. We were supposed to start yesterday(Wednesday) but Samuel has had a difficult time adjusting to the time change and I was so tired on Wednesday(Samuel did not fall asleep until 3AM) that I would not have felt comfortable driving or even walking, as the path to the halte goes up a hill with about 75 steps.

So at 1030 today we began the adaptation. We started to day by leaving Samuel for 30 minutes. The time changes to 1 hour tomorrow and increase by 1/2 an hour until next Wednesday when we will leave him for 4 hours.

Today Samuel broke my heart. The halte garderie has an outer door which you need to be buzzed through which opens onto an outer area where the kids clothes and shoes are left and then they enter the play area through another set of doors. The parents are encouraged to remain in the area between the sets of doors.

This morning when we arrived Samuel walked through the outer doors and immediately walked to the inner door and began banging on the door with his hands. I had to pull him away and set him on a bench where I took off his shoes. As i was placing his shoes under the bench he slid off the bench of his own accord and walked to the inner door and began banging on it again. I walked over and opened the door and Samuel strolled into the play area without even a moments hesitation. I would have appreciated at least a quick glance over his shoulder but the moment the door opened I apparently ceased to exist.

When I returned 30 minutes later to retrieve Samuel, he began to cry as the carer walked him toward the door where I was standing with open arms. He only cried for a few seconds but it was very disheartening.

I am glad that our son is so happy and eager to join and play with others but once and awhile it would be nice to be missed.

-Dave