Preschool: The New College

First: A little video I took last week.

Next, the topic at hand: 
 Last winter, when Elsie was barely two, we had to decide whether or not to apply to preschools for September.  At that time, she was still a tot.  She didn't play particularly well with other children and she wasn't potty trained.  The idea of sending her off to school seemed a little absurd.

I, new to this game, thought "I've heard such wonderful things about the preschool down the street.  We'll just send her there!"  Imagine my surprise when, after making the required visit to the school and filling out the THREE-PAGE application, Elsie received a diplomatic but curt rejection letter in the mail. 

It took me a little aback.  Sure, I knew that that preschool was competitive, but Elsie is bilingual, comes from a family of mixed nationality, and I was still enrolled as a grad student at the university that runs the program when we applied.  I didn't realize that wasn't enough.


"You have to make sure your husband visits, too."  Said a friend whose daughter (also a blond little girl, also of mixed-nationality family) got into the preschool.  Take a day off of work.  To visit a preschool.  This is the man who didn't take a single day of last year's vacation with his family, having saved it all for a trip back home that we couldn't join him on.  Yeah, I think that preschool-search is really a great use of his meager time off.  "And have a parent in the system write you a really stellar letter of recommendation." 

Letter of recommendation?  What, exactly, does one write in a letter of recommendation for a two-year-old?  "Elsie, a budding paleontologist, can name at least 10 types of dinosaurs -- and identify their fossils." 

Oh shit.  They already filled their two-year-old paleontologist quota for the year when they let in the twins around the corner who discovered the Jaydenosaurus and the Madison Raptor.  Tough luck!  Should have included her portfolio of works in crayon and watercolor instead.

At the time of our rejection, it didn't seem like a big deal.  I was going to be home with a baby anyway.  Elsie's young for her grade, and I wasn't sure she'd be up to preschool come September.

What a difference a few months makes.  No baby.  Looking for a job.  Very mature Elsie.  She plays great with kids.  She's completely potty trained.  She would LOVE preschool. 

So we're back in the game. Very, very late in the game.  September is only a few weeks away.