Letdown

As per usual we have another hectic morning. I never cease to be disappointed in myself when I glance at the clock in the dash of my car as I pull out of the garage.

Late again.

My only explanation is that we travel through a time warp tunnel as we walk from the house to the garage. I lose ten minutes in those fifteen steps. We arrive at Strawberry's school and get hit by the buttery scent of popcorn.

Popcorn day.

Why don't they include this information on the monthly calendar that they hand out? There must be a reason I have it on my fridge next to my children's artwork, photos and worthless lottery tickets.

I reach into my jacket pocket to give Strawberry my change. I am hoping for fifty cents but I only feel crumpled tissues. My other jacket has the coins that I need. My purse is left behind in the car. Strawberry's big round eyes look up to me with heartbreak. She knows that her mom can't provide the goods. I had given her change a while back so in a last ditch attempt we go through her jacket pockets. There we discover a handful of pebbles and one penny.

I'm sorry.

Her body droops and she slowly inches towards her classroom defeated. Her sadness weighs me down. While it's only popcorn, it feels like overwhelming disappointment all because of me.

The person that she depends on.

J To The K

When it came time for my parents to send me off to school with a box of raisins (I really loved raisins), they tried to enroll me at the school that was the closest to our house. This Catholic school rejected me. It was something to do with not being Catholic.

It's pretty much undisputable that school is a great force in molding and shaping us into educated and respectable people. Our first years in school establish our habits and passion to learn. Magazines release articles about the top 25 schools in Canada. As with all our parenting decisions it feels like more pressure is placed upon us to make the right choices for our children. Our shoulders are strapped with heavy bricks.

It's true that I know nothing about Ontario schools being that I did not grow up here but I'm not the kind to fret. I am a strong believer in the theory that things will work out they way that they should. I did not sign up for daycare at the moment of conception. Instead the daycare that I drove by every day on the way to work had one opening when we were looking. I booked a tour and then lucked out even though there was a waiting list. It was all in the timing.

I know some women that began researching elementary school's grade averages and scores before their child's first birthday. At Christmas, Colin's relatives urged me to enroll Strawberry in Junior Kindergarten as soon as possible. Once again I decided to go with the school that I drove by every day. It's not the closest school to our house but it one of the closest to her daycare. This is where it gets tricky. We discovered we would have to get extra forms in order to apply to this school. It was at this point that I did a little bit of research on the internet. I found out that it is a coveted school. Bonus! Of course I did not connect the dots at the time to realize that this meant more parents would be trying to get their children into this school.

There were six spots available for children outside their district. They received twenty two applicants. I began to worry that I would have to start looking for a new daycare solution if Strawberry did not get into this school. Luck intervened! Our daycare rubbed it in reminded me that I should be very thankful and to cool it with my laxadaisy attitude.

This began the era of shout outs to Strawberry's big girl school whenever we drove by. We are all getting excited. I even dragged Colin to a tour and introduction to JK where other parents horrified us with their PTA overachieverness. Yes, that is a new word that is special for them! They must have thought we were delinquents that crashed their meeting for the apple juice and cookies.

Twenty three more sleeps until our first born is in the school system. I already think that Ms. G. rocks for sending a hand written letter in the welcome package.

We are super lucky. Please don't hate us. You would not believe what we had to endure in our past lives. Maybe the Catholic school should have taken me.