Applying for Preschool

DUN DUN DUN! And the time has come to begin the application process to enter Kasen into a preschool program. Preschool at Wellesley Schools (nicknamed PAWS) is a public preschool program for kids aged 2.9 years to 4, for a half day program from 9:10am to 11:40am to get Kasen acclimated to the idea of school (he thinks it involves a yellow school bus, and learning about dinosaurs, the alphabet, colors, and numbers). It's literally right down the street from our house in one direction, with Schofield Elementary in the other direction. While we're situated on somewhat of a busy street the fact that it's a commuter's dream (being so close to rt 9, I-95 and I-90) and it's also close to the preschool and kindergarten and elementary school was a huge plus for us. We initially bought in Wellesley in the doldrums of the financial and subprime crisis in 2007 to protect our investment and get the most bang for our buck (hey, if you're paying taxes, you should access to the public goods - something I learned in labor economics at Brandeis - thanks Professor Coiner!). We got the worst possible house you could get in a great neighborhood essentially, and benefiting from what my realtors call the "McMansionization of Suburbia."

In any case, in the parents only orientation a few weeks back I felt incredibly out of place. Not only did I seem like a much younger mom, but I was also a working mom compared to the other Lululemon-clad SAHMs. =(. There were all kinds of terms that I had never heard before. One that really stuck out was the fact that PAWS is an integrated school, with half its students made up of peer standard children while the other half of developing students that need additional attention. It's great because it helps the peer standards learn not sensitivity but also patience with those that are different. I think it is great in that it develops a wonderful level of empathy that doesn't exist with alot of children today.

But man, was the application long. In some ways I was really glad I kept some kind of personal diary chronicling Kasen's development since birth, because there is no way in heck with all of the facts, worries, tasks in my brain that I'd remember at what age he first rolled over or first ate pureed peas.