I was doing really well with the whole 'sending my child off to school' thing. I mean, she went to preschool 3 mornings a week last year and did fine. She loved it. So I felt completely prepared for sending Hannah off to all day/every day kindergarten. Then we got an e-mail...
It was from the school district informing us (well, all parents really) that we could now go on-line and register our child for hot lunches, pay fees, etc...I freaked. I mean hard-core, panic attack freak out. It wasn't just that Hannah was going to eat a hot lunch every day. It's the fact that as a 5-year-old she has to remember her PIN. Really? She's 5! I'm lucky if she remembers to brush her teeth and put on clean underwear every day. Left to rely on her memory and she'll be starving every day. So I freaked. And freaked some more. I cried and wailed a bit about my poor little baby going off to a big public school. She's going to be made fun of, get scared, forget her PIN, forget where she, forget her name, forget me...the list went on.
I mean it's kindergarten! K.I.N.D.E.R.G.A.R.T.E.N! Practically a military school for babies!
It got so bad that I begged my parents to help pay for Hannah to go to a private school. They agreed. Of course, the fact that I was crying as I asked them probably helped my plea. So then we started the enrollment process at one of the area private schools. There were 2 we were choosing between. But neither of them "felt" right. One had awesome after school care, the other didn't have it at all. But the one without after school care had a better curriculum with more opportunities for kids. We were torn. Plus, one was here in Ankeny, the other in the ghetto. And of course the ghetto one was a better school, in my opinion. SO what to do. We prayed, of course but there wasn't any magical solution.
I turned to facebook. Surely someone out there would have some awesome advice for me. Uh...I think I started a facebook fight. There are some seriously passionate people out there! I heard all sorts of horror stories about kids in both public and private school. So ok, that didn't help. I was about to freak out all over again when I got a phone call.
It was from the principal at her public elementary school. He was calling all the parents of kindergartners to let them know something about the school. Because Ankeny has grown a TON in the past year, there are more kindergartners than allowed. They can hold 25 students per class, with 5 classes. So 125 students. They have a lot more than that enrolled. As I was sitting there thinking "well, I guess private school it is", he said he was giving me a choice. I could keep her enrolled in the current school or send her to a different elementary school in Ankeny. Huh? Come again? The school she would then be going to would have no more than 25 kids in the class, it's actually closer to us, and we have a friend who would pick up Hannah after school on the days I work and watch her until I could pick her up. There's a new elementary school being built right now so next year Hannah will be going to that one anyway. No biggy if she goes to one school this year and another one next year. A lot of kids are going to be doing that. Huh. What's that God? You're telling us something here?
So the decision was made. Hannah will be going to Crocker Elementary school in Ankeny in just a few weeks. I'm still a tad freaked out, but I'm hearing this is a normal thing for moms. Luckily I have some amazing neighbors that have held my hand and told me to calm down. I need that
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