Happy Monday, friends!
I “usually” try to keep things somewhat positive around here, but today I’m going to share a little piece of my heart and talk about our school decisions for both girls . . . but mainly Lucy. A lot of words, not a lot of pictures for today’s post.
First of all, I’d like to say that we’ve had a handful of fairly stressful situations throughout our marriage: moving to South Korea, deciding which homes to buy, INFERTILITY, miscarriage, sleep regressions, parenting during quarantine, etc. I feel confident saying that deciding what to do for Lucy for school in the fall may have caused me the second most stress of any of these both physically and mentally. Infertility was tough, but this was a close second!
Why is the decision so stressful for me? (By the way, this is all from my point of view. Matty has been very involved in listing the pros and cons and listening to my concerns . . . but he just doesn’t worry like I do.) I wasn’t sleeping, I had stomach problems. You guys, my hair was falling out! And the reason I’m struggling so hard is because Lucy is supposed to start KINDERGARTEN! Her very first year of official school, and I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.
If I choose in person learning, I risk her health and the health of all the family and friends she’ll interact with. If I choose virtual learning, she’ll be miserable and not even know what to do.
Because she’s five.
And has never been to a REAL school before.
Earlier in the month we decided to start Lucy in person and see how it goes. She NEEDS the socialization aspect of school. I’m a teacher, I know what she needs, and the few times I did try to do “school” activities with her, she fought me TOOTH AND NAIL. I usually ended up in tears and she usually ended up with a smug look on her face. She sees me as her mama, not her teacher, and doesn’t even understand the school process enough to know what’s expected of her.
So . . .when our district voted a few weeks ago to do ONLY virtual learning for the first six weeks and then go from there with a phase in plan that puts the kids in school A HALF DAY A WEEK, I had a bit of a meltdown.
You understand, right?
And I fully believe that everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and I’m fine with that. This is mine: Five year olds do NOT belong on the computer for five to six hours a day. I believe that with all my heart and soul.
Some of my friends are choosing that option for their kiddos, and that’s great. But we feel very strongly that Lucy will not thrive in virtual school.
So, after much talking, stressing, praying, crying, and talking some more . . . we made the decision to enroll Lucy in a private Kindergarten. And a weight was instantly lifted off my shoulders. Except for the tuition, ugh! But it’s a small sacrifice that we’re more than happy to make to get our sweet girl in the classroom.
And the best news is that four other kiddos from our neighborhood will be joining her! We toured the building last week, and Lucy loved it. There’s a great outdoor playground, and an indoor play area as well . . . complete with a Lucy’s Diner area!
Lucy is super excited to be going to school with friends she knows, and she’s extra excited that she’ll be learning Spanish! She’s already promised to come home and teach it to Emily.
Speaking of Emily, she’s still set to go to three-year-old preschool two mornings a week. So, if all goes according to plan, I’ll have two and a half hours to myself twice a week! What will I even do?? The possibilities are endless!
Our local yard sign business in town hosted a fundraiser for Blessings in a Backpack over the weekend. We made a donation and signed up for a time to get Lucy’s picture taken with the Kindergarten sign.
There wasn’t an option for preschool when I signed up, but when we got there the people said they could do it for Emily. I didn’t have her dressed super cute or anything, but we went for it anyway. It’s a cute set up, but they could have used a hyphen!
So that’s where we are right now. I’m confident in our decision, and so happy that Lucy is excited for school. Now we just have three weeks to wait and see who cries more at drop off on the first day. Spoiler alert . . . it won’t be Matty!
Have a great week!
XOXO
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