“All right, we’re here!” Stacy chirps as they pull up in front of a building. Mike looks at the sign out front. It reads “Sunny Hills Daycare”. Dread builds as Stacy comes around to remove him from the car seat she had purchased while Mike and Jim bought clothes the day before. He reluctantly allows her to pick him up to be brought inside. His eyes boggle as he sees Stacy grab a diaper bag that had been at his feet without him noticing.
“Why are you bringing a diaper bag? They have things here!” Mike says.
“You’re supposed to bring extra diapers and things like that to the daycare,” Stacy replies, closing the car door. She sets off for the daycare. “It’s just polite.”
“I don’t need diapers, you know,” Mike grumbles.
“And I’ll tell them that. But you need to act like a normal kid today, okay?”
“How am I supposed to pretend to be a regular two-year-old?” Mike demands.
“Just don’t say anything other than one or two word sentences and do what they tell you to do. They’ll just think you’re a shy, well-behaved toddler.”
“Fine,” Mike mutters. They enter the daycare. The person at the front desk, a perky blonde young woman, looks up and beams.
“Hello! How can I help you?” she asks.
“My name is Stacy. I’m here to drop off my boyfriend’s nephew, Mikey, for the day.”
“Sure thing!” the employee chirps. Mike is set on the desk while Stacy fills out paperwork and chats with the employee. She explains that Mike is currently in the process of potty training, so he’s in pull-ups, as well as that he is shy and quiet.
“He might not talk much, but he promised he would be on his best behavior,” Stacy says. She looks over at Mike. “Didn’t you, Mikey?” Mike nods reluctantly.
“Excellent!” The employee takes the paperwork and puts it in a manila folder. “Stacy, feel free to head on out. We’ll take great care of Mikey.”
“Thank you.” Stacy ruffles Mike’s hair. “I’ll be back for you before you know it.” Mike merely nods silently. After Stacy leaves, Mike lets out a small squeak of shock, as the employee stuck her finger into his pull-up to check it.
“Hmm. Wet. Well, let’s get you changed, then.” The employee picks Mike and the diaper bag up and walks into a room labeled “Toilet-Trained Three and Two”. Mike gulps in relief to not be placed in the room for toddlers not potty-trained. In a corner of the room, the employee removes Mike’s wet pull-up, wipes him down, and puts a fresh one on him. She pulls up his pants and smiles.
“There you go! Penny is going to be the lady watching you today, so be sure to let her know if you need to go poopoo. She’ll help you out.”
“Fanks,” Mike mumbles, giving himself a toddler-like lisp at the last moment. The employee beams at him, then goes up to a young woman near the front of the room to tell her about Mike. Mike looks around the room. There’s one other toddler here, a girl who looks to be a bit older than him. She’s currently playing with some blocks, but there are stuffed animals in a corner and a bookshelf with picture books in it.