You don’t need a calendar in Germany to know when fall begins. All you have to do is pick up the phone and call any doctor, business, house of worship or government office, and if someone answers, then that holiest of German holidays, summer, must be over. This year Katrin and I have another sign that autumn has fallen upon us: Lloyd will begin daycare full-time tomorrow.

It’s all over; Katrin’s one-year maternity leave WITH 67% pay comes to an end today and with it the ability to see our one-year old son anytime she wants. To prepare Lloyd - and us - for the day when he’d be spending more of his waking time among other diaper soilers than with his parents, we began “acclimatizing” him to his new surroundings last month. The first week we stayed in the room with him for half an hour. The next week we left the room. The week after we went and got coffee. And by the fourth week we were taking last-minute jaunts to Prague and Paris. Lloyd seemed comfortable there from the first day as did we after meeting the caregivers - three middle-age women whose down-to-earth attitude and relaxed demeanor amid so much toddler-induced chaos made me feel I was leaving our son with three trusted aunts. During my brief career as a child rearer, I’ve learned that, as in politics and religion, parenting is strongly influenced by special interests and idealism. Finding a daycare center without a rigorous agenda based on organic food, anthroposophy, spiritual development, a germ-free life or learning Cantonese was somewhat trickier than I imagined. Before we started looking, my criteria for acceptable accommodations for Lloyd included qualified personnel who provided him three square a day and made sure he played nicely with others. Try finding that without a requisite hour of Yoga for Youngsters! When we finally did, we were both relieved and downhearted. Lloyd’s world just got a little bit bigger. And we won’t always be in it.