A Brand New Day

It surprised me too, just how much of my pre kindergarten madness was tied to the school. We had reservations but as this was our only option, we did our best to see the positive side, at least Jack did. I cried every time I thought of them in their classroom. I had to leave Organized Living, the small lunch containers put me into some semi sob fit. There was no offer to meet the teacher, no kindergarten round up, no ice cream social, there was little communication and a non existent school community. And then we got a letter in the mail, one that appeared to have been written by one of the third grade students, and specifically, one who was not progressing to fourth grade English at year end.

We went to the mandatory brunch potluck meeting. Lisa the Architect was in town, she came along, she was terrified. "Ally, they can't go here. Ally, you can't go here". There was no organization, there was little information but plenty of disgruntled parents complaining. The bulk of the information had to do with the new uniform policy, amped up considerably since I was given the list of accepted clothing, meaning that half of what I had already bought was no longer acceptable. The real issue though was the need to have this stringent a policy, what was going on in this school that necessitated this kind of clothing lock down?

The next day I got on the phone, called every school on our list, just once more, just in case there was an open spot, or two. One very nice Vice Principal answered the phone, and yes, they did have space, they did have two spaces actually. We visited the next day, with Jack, who was clearly afraid of some knee jerk reaction from me, switching without fully considering my decision. He had nothing to worry about, we both knew we had to make the change. This is a wonderful school, full of friendly people who are generally interested in my children. It is brightly colored and cheerful, there are new administrators who are young and energetic and there are no uniforms, none, not necessary. And Mary and Kate loved it, they ran from room to room, eager to see what was behind each door. We hadn't seen that before, at the other school they tentatively clung to my hand as we toured, I asked questions, they held back.

It's not perfect, and that's fine. But right now it's perfect for us and that is what we all really needed. Tomorrow is a big day, and I am as excited as the girls.

All right, no one could be as excited as the girls, but I am not crying every time I think about them in the lunchroom, and that must mean something, perhaps that we have finally found the right spot.

Tomorrow, quite early, we start a whole new chapter of this life.