1 Mother 2 Another

Hey, remember when you had time to get
excited about the new shows coming out in the fall on t.v.? I
don’t even know what movies are out right now, thanks to my
tivo’s capability of automatically skipping commercials as I
try to catch up on “So You Think You Can Dance” at
midnight (what’s up with WILL being gone, by the way??? He
was far and away the best guy.)


So I’m not talking today about upcoming television
programming; I’m thinking of upcoming toddler activities
programming.

I know that last spring, I detailed some
of my decision-making on whether or not to send Maddie to preschool
this fall. We ended up registering her “just in case”
– better safe and have a spot than sorry and wish we’d
done it. Our final decision, though, is that we’re going to
hold her out and delay starting until the spring semester. First
and foremost, I just don’t see a need right now: yes,
she’s anxious to go to “school” like the big kids
do, but the swim lessons thing showed up just how young she still
is. She’s spent the summer getting used to taking instruction
from someone other than a parent – namely, her swim teacher
– but it’s all been one-on-one, so we’re going
slow. She’s in children’s chapel at church now, rather
than the nursery, and loving that as well, so we see her starting
to learn school culture and expectations every Sunday. So
we’ve decided to wait at least one more semester and save our
cash as well as our precious time with that little girl.


I do, however acknowledge that kindergarten is different than it
was when we were kids; these days EVERYONE goes to preschool, so
kindergarten is less about learning how to hold scissors and line
up to go to lunch and more about actual learning, getting ready for
the twelve years of testing – er, teaching –
she’ll be undergoing. So I know Maddie needs some preschool,
just to learn the culture and processes, which means we’re
planning on putting her in next year simply as kindergarten prep
school. And since it’s pretty hard to get into a lot of
preschools at age 4 unless you’ve already been there,
we’re thinking of putting her in this spring.


That doesn’t mean Maddie’s going to be study-less this
fall though – far from it. I can tell she needs more
interaction with other kids, and more stimulation than I can give
her 24/7. So we’ve been looking into a few classes she could
take – something she’d love to study that will give her
“school” in short doses. The problem is that
Maddie’s interested in so many things, getting a schedule
figured out for her is taking some time.


So far I’ve written every class we’re considering for
Maddie onto a week-long calendar, noting every time the class is
offered, when I might work myself, when playgroup is, when OPEN GYM
is (God bless open gym, can’t wait for it to start again!),
and so forth. Which means we’ve got an incredibly
full-looking calendar as I try to juggle work, classes, and quality
time into some sort of meaningful week for Maddie. And oh, yes,
make sure Cora’s not just an accessory I carry everywhere in
the chauffeuring of Maddie.


What are we looking at? We’re pretty certain Maddie’s
going to take ballet at a nearby studio, for one. She’s also
simply gone deeper in love with the whole gymnastics thing, having
watched the “big girls” practice after every swim
lesson, so I may break down and let her try that as well.
I’ve got a lead on a really excellent music class – not
that she doesn’t get a lot of music stimulation at home, but
I think she’d love it, especially making music with kids her
own age. And finally, we’re considering a sport something
– a soccer clinic, a class in sports techniques, something
like that. Throw in the weekly playgroup and me trying to find some
time to work a few hours, and suddenly our lives are
hyper-programmed.


And she’s only three.


Who knows what we’ll actually end up doing – we may
just do one class and call it a day. But with so many of
Maddie’s friends in preschool three times a week, I know
she’s going to be a bit lonely and bored. So we’ll take
the next week or so to figure things out, try to get something
sensible, and go from there.


My word – I think I may actually be a soccer mom.


Do they make hybrid mini-vans?