Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Preschool Admissions Game

I love that I live in one of the most educated counties in the United States. I love that we have numerous choices for preschool from Mom's Day Out groups to Montessori schools. It's all great. What I do not love, however, is that I can't seem to get my toddler into any of these wonderful preschools! I've played this game before and I know it all too well. Lizzie, my oldest daughter, was on the waitlist of a local Montessori school for TWO YEARS before they called us with an opening for her. TWO YEARS! WTF? You would think that I would know by now that I can't begin my fall preschool search the spring before. Still, I'm praying to the preschool gods that a spot will open up somewhere for us. Don't get me wrong. I'm on several waitlists and have been for the past year but when I phone the schools to inquire about the possibility of getting in for fall, they laugh at me and coolly tell me there's no way in hell my son is getting in this year. They are full up through the end of 2006. Better luck next year.

Okay...I don't know about you but preschool wasn't this big of a deal when I was a tot. The kids who went had to because their parents were working during the day. It's not like that anymore. Now, the kids who go are the ones whose parents have AM Yoga classes and PM Reformer classes and book clubs and knitting clubs and all the other suburban mom crap. The parents actually stay at home but for the sake of sanity need a little bit of a break every now and again. I admit. I'm one of those moms. I need to send Bubba off somewhere for two days a week both so I can be a better, balanced, mommy and so that he can interact with other kids who think that playing cars all day is pretty darn cool. Also, I need to go back to school because my crushing student loan debt ain't gonna get paid with only half of a law degree. Which means, that Bubba and mama need a freakin' spot to open up asap! Right now my chances are looking pretty slim.

Maybe I should start a rumor about a preschool. All it takes is one comment to a fellow parent: "Did you hear they do such-and-such at Fancy Pants preschool?" to get the ball rolling. Hmm...I've done worse things for a lot less. And, if it benefits Bubba, then how can I go wrong? Oh, who am I kidding. Frazzled moms would give their left tit to continue doing [insert leisure class here] as long as their kid wasn't being beaten while they were away. And, who could blame them? We moms get so little time to ourselves that when we do, we hold onto it with our last dying breath. Not to imply that we don't love our children. We do love them and we can continue to love them but not want to spend every waking moment with them because, sometimes, it's just too much.

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