When we got to daycare I had a new plan (although I didn’t tell him) to offer a sticker at each step of drop-off: checking in to the computer, putting his lunch in the fridge, dropping his bag off at his cubby, and then finally saying goodbye. So I started at the computer and gave him his sticker, explaining that it was so he didn’t need to cry at school when Mommy left. When we got to the fridge I asked him if he wanted another sticker, and he said “No, Mommy, I already have a sticker!” Then we dropped off his bag, he found his favorite fire-truck, and, shockingly, I said goodbye and left without so much as a whimper.
So all it took was one measly sticker? Why didn’t I try this a long time ago?