It’s hard to leave your children with a day care provider, nanny or other care giver while you are away working, but many of us have to do it everyday. It’s harder when you are not happy with the level of care your child is receiving. Sometimes you have to break up with your daycare provider in order to ensure your child is getting the best care. Here are some tips on how to make the break up conversation go easier:

• Speak to the Director or Owner. Schedule a face-to-face meeting with the owner or director of the day care center when you feel things aren’t going the way you’d hope. It’s important that the message be delivered directly to the top of the organization so they can make positive change for other parents.
• Keep the conversation positive. It’s hard to take bad news so be considerate of the person you are speaking with. This doesn’t mean you have to sugar coat the information; just be sure to keep your cool so the person listening will pay attention.
• Be honest. If you tip toe around the real issues of why you are leaving, they will never know what to fix and other parents are just going to be in the same position you are.
• Provide written notice. Many day care centers have strict withdraw policies. Avoid penalties by reviewing the center’s policy before you take your child out. Sometimes immediate withdraw is necessary, no matter the financial penalty, but other times you might be able to save some money by giving two weeks notice (or however long the policy states). Be sure to give notice in writing to avoid any communication problems or extra charges.
• Don’t burn bridges. You never know, but you may need, or even want, to return to the facility one day. Sometimes, in hindsight, what you are worried about today may not seem so bad later.

Photo credit: amdavis

Let’s just say I’d rather be sleeping right now. It doesn’t matter what time of day you are reading this — if you are, and I’m awake, I’d rather be sleeping.

I’m a sleep-deprived mom of two younguns (one is still a baby at a wee 7 months) who keep me busy these days. I realized the other day how much I love sleeping. It is the best feeling in the world to me these days. I’d take it over a box of Godiva chocolates, over front row U2 tickets, pretty much anything right now. I have to work every day so I don’t get a chance for naps. “Getting lucky,” these days means my husband is going to stay up with the kids while I take a nap on the weekend.

People who don’t have kids have no idea what I’m talking about. Long gone are the days of the keg parties (I got invited to one last week and had to laugh), happy hours that turn into happy nights, taking in a 10:00 p.m. movie — heck, even staying up to watch a movie on TV. I’d rather sleep.

I’d better stop writing this … it’s infringing on my sleep time.

Photo courtesy stock.xchng.

The end of breastfeeding. This may seem to personal for some people to talk about, but it’s an important milestone in a breastfeeding mother’s time line of her baby growing up: When the milk runs out.

It’s a happy and sad day all in one. I have to think it’s like letting your child go off to school … you’ll finally get to change his/her room into that creative space you’ve always wanted; you can run around the house naked; you can do whatever you want, when you want. You’re excited he/she’s grown into the beautiful person you always knew he/she’d be. But, and I know it’s a big but, you’ll miss him/her to pieces. This is not unlike the end of breastfeeding.

Gone are the long middle of the night wake up calls when only you can feed the baby.

Gone are the sore nipples.

Gone is the struggle to get your baby to latch on properly.

Gone is the worry of leaking through your blouse during a business meeting.

No more carrying around a nursing wrap to shield the public from seeing your breasts.

No more pumping milk when you are away from the baby to make sure your milk supply keeps up.

No more washing out the pump parts and lugging the pump to work, on trips, and storing the milk with a cooler so it won’t spoil.

So, you’d think I’d be ecstatic that I have all this free time on my hands.

Then I think there will be no more alone time, bonding with my baby, watching her nuzzle at my breast, drinking the magic milk that only I can provide. No more antibodies for my baby when she’s sick. No more passing along all the good nutrients from breast milk. But I’ll have time. Lots of time.

What the hell am I going to do with all this time?  I’ll hold my baby and feed her a bottle and tell her of the time I used to breastfeed her. Hopefully she’ll look up at me with the same sweet smile and give me a giggle just like she did when it was just her and me.

This is what I’ve been drinking lately. It’s a wonderful little tea that helps breastfeeding mothers produce more milk, and I think it works just as well to help you relax (which, helps produce more milk).

I was first introduced to this drink while in attendance at a weekly breastfeeding mother’s tea offered by the breastfeeding education center at our local hospital. It’s here where mothers of newborns (under 8 weeks of age) would meet up, drink “Mother’s Milk tea,” and talk about boobs, diapers and our continual lack of sleep. “Time for tea” quickly became a necessity in the week.

Drinking the tea now reminds me of the early days of learning to feed my newborn, to care for her and to care for myself. The tea offers calming effects far greater than just offering more milk.

I can’t say this stuff really works to increase your milk supply, but I can attest that one day I feared my milk was done.

Gone.

Over.

It was too early for this to happen so I ran to the nearest Whole Foods and bought some of this tea and quickly made a cup. By the next time I needed to produce milk, I had some. I breathed a sigh of relief and began drinking at least one cup of this a day. They say that you need to drink it four times a day for it to really work, but I think it’s worth it no matter how much you drink. The calming effects alone are helpful to breastfeeding moms. Who couldn’t use a calming cup of tea?

You can buy it in many stores, but if you have trouble look in your “natural” stores in the herbal section.

And, bonus, each bag offers an inspirational saying on the tag.

I’ll miss this tea when I’m no longer breastfeeding, but I might try one of the options from the tea maker’s line of “Woman’s Tea.”

This onesie is the most adorable creation I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s even more adorable on the baby than it is in this photo.

I just love how it’s hand-crafted and unique. It came from someone I work with. She gave this to me as a gift, made especially for my daughter. She is extremely talented and usually makes outfits of this style for grown ups. I believe this was one of her first for a baby, but I’m certain it isn’t her last.

Want one? Contact Ashley (ashley.belanger at gmail dot com) or visit her etsy shop.