I want to stay at home!

Before her three week vacation of non-stop 24-hour grandparent attention, Nora was pretty good about going to daycare. After her lunch, she'd say, "And now we have to go to daycare!" and hop in her stroller for me to take her. After vacation, it's been more of a struggle. The first two days, she cried for 90 minutes straight until her favorite daycare provider, Nela, arrived for her afternoon shift. The daycare boss, Adela, wisely commented that, "Well sure, it's a struggle for all of us to go back to daily routines after a vacation, and the longer the vacation, the harder it is." It was one thing back before she could talk, when she would cry when I dropped her off at daycare, but now that she can say, "Daddy, are you going to leave? Why are you leaving? Stay here with Nora! Take me with you!", it's somewhat more heartbreaking.Most parents tend not to post photos or videos of their kids crying, giving the impression, both to others and to their future selves, that their kid is an angel. I appreciate it when parents buck this trend, so I thought I'd do the same and post this interesting interview I had with Nora today.

Some things to notice:

• When her brain gets around to simulating the experience of being left at daycare, her emotions erupt.
• Her moods change so quickly. A simple sip of water or a request for a smile is enough to fix things.
• She has complete domination over opening and closing screw-top bottles.
• She drinks like her old man.
• This is not a product placement gimmick for some random German bottled water. We must have bought that bottle when passing through a German airport.
• When she gets particularly confused or surprised (like when her father suggests something as stupid as "giving the internet a kiss"), she switches to Spanish.

When I finally did take her to daycare, she snuggled down in her stroller, trying to make herself disappear for the walk there. Upon arrival, she sniffled, "I want to get down and give you a hug!" After my heart re-solidified, I let her down and hugged her. She then pointed to the classroom she wanted to go to, and asked a daycare provider, in Spanish, for her favorite toy.

Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, or the original Spanglish.