My PreSchool Is Better Than Yours

Dear God.  Have you ever been here?  You know, in that awful place where moms start comparing pre-schools, claiming, mine does this, and mine does that.  They have German, and Gymnastics, and my kid can even multiply fractions.  Well, I've been there, and for about a week, it had me contemplating whether or not my kids are in the best school.  Seriously, by the time they graduate to Kindergarten, I will have already invested $44,720.00 in their education/babysitting....however you wanna look at it.  And, yes, that is a REAL number, and only for ONE kid....we could so be driving luxury cars for that amount....

Two reasons why I began to question the quality of the school:

1) A certain momma briggity-bragged a little bit about her school, so I thought that I should see it for myself

2) 9/24, 9/28, 11/9, 12/2, 12/9, 1/19, 3/1, 3/15, 4/15, 4/23.  Want to know what that is?  All of the fargin dates that my baby girl has been sent home "sick" from school since August (and I do believe some dates are missing)  Yes, on several of these occasions she was really sick, Roto Virus, Noro Virus, The croup, and on some of these occasions she was just being a baby...you know, low grade fever for no reason, crapping liquid more than twice a day.  It's down right annoying, and cumbersome the number of times I get the sick call at work.  So, honestly, I wanted to see if maybe she would be healthier at another school.  I was at my breaking point with the sick thing, and I was soo close to pulling her out of our school, it scared me.

So, I checked out that other school.  I wasn't overly impressed.  The classrooms were newer and brighter, and maybe the walls looked prettier.  Our school is not brand new, it has been educating the young for over 30 years.  The chairs and tables are wooden and older, the toy shelves are a bit worn.  If you are in to aesthetics, our school does not have the edge.

Well, then this happened.  The Teddy Bear Picnic.  Camdyn's classroom had been working on the letter "B" all week.  On Friday, they brought their bears and blankets to school, and had a picnic in the courtyard.  I made them pb&j's shaped like teddy bears, other mommas brought them chips and juice boxes.  Oh, and then I invited myself along to take some pictures.

Dear Job, Thank you for being so flexible and for not caring when I come and go, so as to let an over stretched momma take part in her kids' school activities.  I love you, please don't lay me off because of the sucky economy. Love, Me.

So, as I watched, and smiled, and enjoyed every single second of the kids enjoying themselves.  I realized that, sucky sick policy or not, my girls are happy, and they are exactly where they should be. 

Now, allow me a minute, to fall from grace (and briggity brag, if you will), and show you why My School is Perfect for My Kids:

1) Miss V directs the children to the courtyard on the church campus.  This little plot of land is gorgeous with a giant oak tree, planted flowers, green grass and park benches.  Does your school have a courtyard? Oh, no?  It's in a retail center surrounded by concrete with a teeny tiny playground out back. Sucks for you.

2).  Miss V helps the children set down their blankets and their picnic (brown bag) lunches and then gathers them together for Teddy Bear games. 

1).  They pull out the parachute and put all of the Teddies in the middle and fling them up in the air.  Now, some kiddos were upset that their bears got "hurt" and dirty, but most of them loved seeing them fly through the air. 

2) The kids line up for a Teddy Bear Race with their bears.

3) They race with their bears, running as fast as they can, then they line up again, and walk side-ways all the way back.  Kids have to have room to run and play, don't you think?  Where do they do that at your school? Oh, in the parking lot?  Safe. 

1) Then it is time to read "The Teddy Bears' Picnic"

2) And eat lunch outside on their blankets.  Do your kids get to eat outside?  No. Well, maybe they can reserve a stall or two in the parking lot so that the kids can do that every once in awhile.

3) And then pose for a class picture with their bears.  Does your school have a momma like me?  No.  Sucks for you (hehehe, funny, cause writing that doesn't even sound like me, and it totally isn't).

After the picnic they play ring-around-the-rosy with the bears and then they do the Teddy Bear Teddy Bear nursery rhyme, and then they get to free-play and enjoy being kids, on a beautiful day.

While our school might not be a perfect fit for you, it is for us and I don't think I'll question that again.  I adore moments like these, when the children play and learn, and experience life outside of the classroom and playground.  And, I am thankful for teachers like Miss V, who dedicate themselves to what they do.  So, although my Pre-School may or may not be better than yours, it really doesn't matter, cause it is perfect for us!