It's Five o' Clock Somewhere

Very few things will drive me to drink.  I'm not really a drinker.  I'm more of a two glasses of wine (tops) kind of girl.  Maybe Diet Coke and vanilla vodka.  However, there is the occasional circumstance that will drive me to drink. 

At noon. 

Finding out that Zoë's preschool class is probably getting canceled is one of them. The director of her preschool called me today during lunch time to break the news that Zoë was the only three year old enrolled in the class and even worse there were only five other children total enrolled in the preschool program.  Lovely. Instead of canceling the class she wants to merge the three year old class (Zoë) with the fours.  I am actually not opposed to that.  The problem?  The four year old class is from 12:15-3:00, otherwise knows as "smack in the middle of Zoë's nap time."

That was right about the time I started having my nervous breakdown.  If you have a child in school you know why.  Let's follow the bouncing ball, shall we?

Preschool enrollment takes place in the spring. 
All preschools are now FULL.
We actually TURNED DOWN letters of acceptance from other preschools.
All preschools are now FULL.
We have pretty much a snowballs chance in hell of getting Zoë into preschool.
All the preschools are now FULL.
(Insert Maegan drinking her Flaming Doctor Pepper).

We had decided on the preschool program at our local park for two reasons.  One, it was close.  Two, Zoë would meet little friends in our neighborhood.  I had such lovely visions of Zoë and I walking hand-in-hand to preschool. (OK, so we were singing and skipping, but whatever).  Now, I am freaking out.

I called another preschool that Kelly and I really liked.  We had decided against it for two reasons. One, it is about 25 minutes each was in traffic (not worth the drive considering Zoë is only at preschool for about two hours).  Two, it is an everyday program.  I really contemplated applying but decided against it.  We fully intended on sending Zoë there once she turned four but I didn't want them to disregard our application if we turned down an acceptance when she was three. Make sense? 

Anyway, I called the admissions person this afternoon to see if by some miracle there was still a spot in the three year old class.  There isn't but he was really nice and helpful.  He actually remembered Kelly and I (score) and said that there were five children on the wait list right now.  Before I started to loose all hope he said: "but you never know...there is usually some shuffling around the first week of school....it is not uncommon for one or two 3's to be moved to older classes."  Then added, "send in your application....we could probably even set up an interview to meet Zoë just in case a spot opens up."  SWEET.

Fast forward to me spending all of Zoë's nap time making the most awesome admissions application they have ever seen (hopefully).

My hope is that they are dazzled by the application and schedule an interview with Zoë.  Then they will be so dazzled by her that they bump her to the top of the wait list.  Cross your fingers!  And toes.

In the meantime I am trying to come up with contingency plans.  I really don't know what to do.  Should I let Zoë attend the afternoon 4's class until I hear from the other school?  Should I contact her old preschool and see if there is room?  The pressure!  I wish there was one right answer.  Not knowing is just going to drive me nuts for the next two-three weeks.

Comments

[Cathy Pascual]

oh my!
is this what I have to look forward to next year? LOL
sofi didn't make the cut-off for pre-school this year - she turns 3 end of nov...so I'm taking her to a once a week class where I attend with her...plus she's not even close to pt-ed yet. that one success weeks ago was just a fluke!

and that is undoubtedly the best pre-school application they've ever seen! she's a shoe-in!!! don't worry too much...

p.s. it stinks that your first p-s didn't tell you sooner! talk about last minute!

[Lisa]

Give the afternoon pre-K a shot...by the time you do the driving for the other class you'll be in the middle of nap time anyway. Kids usually adjust well to a different schedule and I don't really love the idea of a 3 year old in class everyday. LOVE your application!

[Jennifer]

Oh no! I would be in major nervous breakdown mode too. Awesome application though! Keep us posted on what happens!

[Heather]

I'm so sorry, Maegan! How frustrating!!

The app IS adorable, though! What? No crafts??!!!

[Heather R]

I love your new headings and other cool blog stuff. I'm sorry for all of the frustration with the schools. It will all work out as it should though so have faith sister!!!!!!!!

[Vanda]

I;m not usually a commenter...but I wanted to let ya know that I feel your pain. The same thing happened to us, but it was 1 week before school was supposed to start. I had to put my son in a 12:30-4 class. He has ALWAYS napped from 12-2ish. I had to start getting him up at 6-6:15 every morning and then lay him down for a nap at 9:45. He gets in a good 1 1/2 hour nap and then it's off to school. He has adjusted to it like a champ. I anticipated the worst, and it ended up being fine. Hope this helps. Good luck in whatever you decide. :)