Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/remember-me-im-the-other-parent-insights-for-meeting-the-needs-of-both-parents/5012614/
Until recently, my husband, Al, and I shared the responsibility of drop-off and pick-up of our two children at our local community child care center. We each developed our own rituals and methods of coercion for persuading Ashley and Genevieve, two and a half and one and a half years old, to enter the center without kicking and screaming and to leave in the evening without kicking and screaming.My husband is prepared with an arsenal of tapes from Tchaikovsky to Scottish bagpipes to Kindermusik. I have a hard time enjoying perky kiddy tunes in the early am hours. When Ashley and Genevieve ride with me, we usually look for school buses and try to guess "what's inside trucks." I tend to spend more time at the center in the morning and Al spends more time at night. He's usually late for work and I'm usually late from work.
I have to confess that I'm not beyond carrying jelly beans in my pocket for smooth transitions. It can be quite embarrassing at the end of the day when your child, upon seeing you, yells, "Go back to work. We're just starting to have fun."
Somehow, I always imagined this slow-motion encounter ...