February 19, 1999

Cocca-Spofford, RN

It's tough for moms and dads to say good-bye to their little ones when leaving them at the day care center. Just ask Diane Cocca-Spofford, RN, BSN, of MGH Cardiology. For four years, she took her son Cameron to the MGH Children's Center at CNY before going to her job as a heart failure research nurse.

Fortunately for many MGH parents and children, the teachers at the Children's Center created a game to make the separation a little easier for both parties. In what the staff calls the "good-bye game," children choose a numbered card that indicates how many hugs and kisses they will receive from their parents before saying good-bye.

"The children look forward to playing the game and eventually grow accustomed to the parents leaving," says Cocca-Spofford. "It's a great tool to relieve separation anxiety for children and helps parents say good-bye as well."

The useful tool inspired Cocca-Spofford to write a children's book about the game to help other parents leave their children at day care, with a babysitter or a family member. While on maternity leave with her third child Olivia, now 2, Cocca-Spofford penned the book and recruited her sister, Maryann Cocca-Leffler, to illustrate it.

The Good-bye Game is published by Infinity Plus One and was recently selected for the Book of the Month Club. Cocca-Spofford currently is working on another children's book called Do You Love Me? to be published in the fall.