Once upon a time, a long time ago in a kingdom far far away…(well, it really wasn’t THAT long ago, and Shawnee isn’t really a kingdom and is less than two hours from here, but hey, it’s my story)…a little girl grew up in a small town neighborhood, where she walked to the neighborhood public school six blocks away. She continued to attend that same school until she graduated sixth grade. And guess what? She amazingly enough graduated high school and college without too many scars and has become a productive citizen in her community and lived happily ever after. And never once did her parents stress out about where she was going to go to school.
Oh, those were the good old days.
Now, this little girl has grown up and has a family of her own. Her son is getting ready to start Kindergarten in the fall and it has taken all of one year, twenty school tours, numerous applications, cognitive tests, psychological tests, stalking phone calls (that would be his daddy) and endless “discussions” with his daddy on where their son should attend Kindergarten. One would think their son was applying for an Ivy League college, instead of where he was going to learn how to share his toys and tie his shoes.
Sometimes having a lot of options isn’t always a good thing.
His mommy wanted her son in an immersion program (yes, maybe living a little vicariously through her child), and his daddy wanted a school where he could explore nature and have a different sort of education. The mommy was a public school girl; the daddy was a private school boy. And their son definitely has a mind of his own…whom if it was up to him, he would not go to any school. So for this divorced family, co-parenting and compromise was the name of the game.
There was a point in time where they did not think their child was going to go to Kindergarten at all, as they were put on waiting list upon waiting list upon waiting list. And the mommy and the daddy were both getting a complex. The mommy tried and tried and tried to convince the daddy that Immersion was the way to go, but persuasion was never her strong suit. The son had a few “issues” with the daddy’s first choice school, and just to push his buttons, the son decided it would be fun to graffiti the walls when he came to visit the school. (The mommy thought that might play into her favor for the immersion school…but alas, she lost the battle).
Finally the parents came down to the wire and one of the waiting lists opened up. Their son will go to Kindergarten after all! Hallelujah, praises were singing across the land. (except for their son, who would prefer it be summertime all year).
And they all lived happily ever after…
Or until next year when they start the process all over again. *sigh*
marniefernandez 