Making grown women cry is not normally on my daily 'to do' list. Go to Post Office? Check. Go to M&S? Check. Make sales assistant cry? Only when it's the grumpy old bat who insists on throwing my purchases down the conveyor belt and tuts when I ask for cashback.
I find it's generally best to try to avoid making people cry if I can possibly help it. The only exception I make to this is when I beat an opponent at Scrabble or Friends Scene It. I expect (nay, demand) them to be lying on the floor in a foetal ball weeping at my brilliance for knowing the word QI and that Monica once dated a guy who was so hairy he looked like he was wearing a jumper when he was naked (Season 1: The one with the candy hearts).
I knew that the news of the girls' impending departure from their current nursery (reason? My contract has ended, I'm going to be working elsewhere and they will be attending a nursery round the corner from home from the beginning of June) wasn't going to be greeted with whoops of joy (they'll miss the fat cheque I write them every month for a start) but I wasn't quite prepared for anyone to start crying.
I did the official bit first and spoke to the nursery manager privately. She was sad but fine. I asked if I could tell C, G's keyworker and all-round complete star (if I could afford to have her as a nanny, I would) myself and with permission granted, asked to have a quiet word with her. I explained that my job was changing and therefore....and she guessed the rest. She sniffed. A tear spilled out. She turned to her colleague who was also moist-eyed. I felt like the most horrible person in the world. C and G have a special bond and I'm effectively ending their relationship. Not a good feeling.
I won't miss the hellish journey to and from nursery three days a week. I will miss the girls who work there and the nursery itself which is lovely and deserves to have the two year waiting list it currently enjoys. I cna't wait until I can walk the girls round to their new nursery at 7.45am (rather than having to be in the car and ready to go at 7.15am), drop them off and take a short stroll to the station to get the train to my new place of work.
Their last day at their current nursery is 21st May and they start settling in at the new nursery the week after ready for their 1st June start. Life is going to be infinitely easier all-round. I think it's harder on the grown-ups involved than the girls. I suspect they will be completely fine. I'd better get the tissues ready on 21st May.
