Chloe's Second Family

Yesterday, Friday 12/2/11, was Chloe's last day with her beloved babysitter, Auntie Felicia.  姨姨, as she calls her, has been like her second mother ever since she was 2 months old.  Over the course of 22 months, Chloe has built a strong relationship with 姨姨.  Every morning she looked forward to going to 姨姨's house.  When it was time to go home at the end of the day, sometimes she didn't even want to go home with me.  That's how highly she thinks of her 姨姨.

As we prepared her for preschool over the last couple of months, I was also dreading the arrival of Chloe's last day with Felicia. I felt sad for Chloe to have to leave someone she loves so dearly.  I myself felt sad that we had to leave behind such a good caregiver for our daughter.  Felicia had been a god-send for us and we counted our blessings everyday that our daughter was in good hands.  On top of that, I wasn't sure if Chloe understood that a long farewell was approaching.  To be honest, I didn't think she understood.  But just in case she is smarter than I thought, I've hyped up the fun of going to school and meeting new friends.  Hopefully that would soften the impact of leaving 姨姨.  I also refrained from telling her that going to school means she could no longer go to 姨姨's everyday.  I didn't want any bad connotation attached to the idea of school. 

Finally this past week, I couldn't refrain myself anymore.  I finally said to her, "Chloe, this is your last week with 姨姨.  Next week you are going to school. Ok?"  I think I said that to her twice this week and each time she replied differently.  One time she just curiously asked "Gool?".  The other time she actually said "No gool.  Go 姨姨".  So...did she realize what was about to happen?

Finally on Friday morning, the bittersweet end was here.  In the morning, I told her, "Chloe, today is your last day with 姨姨.  You have fun with 姨姨 ok?"  Chloe replied, "Ok Mommy. Have fun Mommy."  Her reply made me think she didn't know what was going on.

Randy went with me to pick up Chloe from Felicia's this last time.  I needed Randy to go with me because I knew I was going to cry.  Yes, I'm weak and sentimental that way.  Sure enough, tears did roll out of my eyes even though I fought really hard to keep them in.  Felicia was teary-eyed as well.  Both of us remained calm and composed, however.  We didn't want to alarm the kids.  The kids, including Chloe, Keith and Max, showed no signs of sadness.  It was a regular pickup session in their eyes.  In fact, Felicia told us that when she told the boys Chloe will not be coming over next week, the boys thought Chloe is about to go on vacation.  When Felicia told them it was because Chloe will be going to school next week, Max excitedly asked, "Is she going to my school?"  This proves that all three of them are still too young to understand what farewell means.  Which is probably a good thing.

Before we left, we took this picture of Chloe and her second family.  You can see how happy they are together.

Even though this was a last farewell as caregiver and care receiver, this was not a last farewell altogether.  We are making a point to visit often.  We do not want Chloe to forget 姨姨 and all the things she's done for her.  At the tender age of 2, I know Chloe will probably forget a lot.  But we promise to do the best we can to prevent her from forgetting too much.  We have to have frequent get-togethers and play-dates to preserve this close-knit relationship.