One Mom Goes Viral After Sharing Her First Daycare Drop-Off Feels

It may be back-to-school season, but for thousands of parents across the country, it’s not back-to-school it’s time for the first day of school. Whether it’s daycare or preschool or 1st grade, while these milestones are wonderful to watch your children reach, they can also be quite emotional.

One mom recently went viral for her candid account of what it feels like to drop your baby off at daycare for the first time. A fitness influencer and mom of three, Courtney @strongstartfitness_ begins her video by acknowledging that this isn’t her first daycare dropoff rodeo but her first with her youngest.

“I have three children, all girls. I have a 9-year-old who’s going into Grade 5, I have a 6-year-old going into Grade 1, and my 3-year-old — I just dropped her off at her first day at daycare,” she says through tears.

“Now this little nugget has been with me because of COVID and everything like that, every day of her life since she’s been born,” she explains. “I’ve been a stay-at-home mom to her, and I did not think that it would be this hard for her to go to daycare. I know it’s good for her, it’s good for me, it’s good for us, but when you are physically attached to something that has been with you 24/7, separation anxiety is very, very hard,” she says, echoing a sentiment many parents know too well.

“And she went like a champ,” she continues. “I tried to hold back to hold back the tears, but I couldn’t. And she said it’s okay Mommy, I’ll see you later, I’m going to have fun. And then that made me cry even harder, because that’s what I’ve been telling her the past few days. So it would be easy on her, but little did I know.”

Daycare dropoff has never been easy but COVID attachments have definitely made it harder for kids and parents to say, “see ya later.” Courtney goes on to explain that she isn’t even sure what to do with the rest of her day now that all three of her girls are out of the house. Amid tears she finally takes a deep breath admitting that it feels good to get it off her chest.

Not only was Courtney able to vent her feelings though, thousands of parents and over 1.8 million users in total watched her video and sent comments in support. “I’m an educator in the 0-24month group. I totally understand. You’re doing great mama,” wrote one commentor. “You made me cry, I understand this soo much. I am dreading the day I have to send my baby’s off to school,” a parent added.“Your feelings are valid,” said another

The next day, Courtney popped in with an update that she and her daughter are doing great and both adjusting to the change. “I think mommy feels a lot better now. We got the Bandaid ripped off, eh? First day jitters or first day blues? But we feel better, don’t we,” she says.”Yeah!” her daughter excited screams—and off they go!

If you are worried about your first daycare dropoff check out these tips for easing the transition.