In the care of strangers

Today I dropped Liam off at the child care center at my gym while I exercised. It was the first time I'd left him in the care of strangers, and strangers for pay no less. I think I felt the anxiety that is typical for new parents, but went through with it nonetheless.

Milestone passed.

Liam was making happy sounds when I returned at the end of my workout.
Two observations on child care. First, I learned that children under two years old count the same as three older children in determining the proper level of day care supervision. I gladly patted myself on the back for bearing three times the normal parental burden. Which makes me wonder - isn't parenting supposed to get harder as they get older? That's mostly what people have been telling me, but today's experience suggests that's backwards.

Second, I will now have empirical evidence on how my child does in the care of paid babysitters (?) versus in my own care. Ideally, a child would be better-adjusted with a little bit of both, no? The child care attendant (what else do I call them?) said that he did fine but didn't like being left by himself. Note to self: Baby may be hard-wired to be social or may just get bored easily if he doesn't have his own toys. Look into that, self.