Friday, February 08, 2008

Bad Timing

My day was going along just fine until I opened the mail. Eli will be starting kindergarten in the Fall, and we received a letter today from the school.

First, let me backtrack. Prior to today, I thought our elementary school offered all-day kindergarten and that was it. Everyone in the neighborhood told me kindergarten was all day, and the school’s Web site said it was all day.

Today when I received the school’s letter, it mentioned an upcoming meeting in which they would discuss the difference between their all-day and half-day programs, “including the extra fee for full-day.”

Extra fee? What? Apparently, if all-day kindergarten is your only option, there is no extra fee. If you have a choice, and you choose all-day kindergarten, there is an extra fee of about $300 a month!!!! Dude! I can’t afford an extra $300 a month! Crap!

So Eli will be going to half-day kindergarten, which is only offered in the morning. Not a big deal, right? Wrong. Georgia will be starting preschool next year, which is across town.

Let’s break this down.

Eli’s kindergarten starts at 8:10. Georgia’s preschool, which is across town, starts at 9:00. Not a problem.

Eli’s kindergarten gets out at 11:05. Georgia’s preschool, which is ACROSS TOWN, lets out at 11:30.

Problem!!

According to my friends, the whole pick-up process, including the kindergarteners getting out the door, getting them in the car, and getting your ass out of the “car line” takes about 15 minutes on a good day. That would leave me 10 minutes to get ACROSS TOWN to pick up Georgia!

Dude! I am soooo f*cked!

4 comments:

Desert Songbird said...

I know a lot of my friends had this problem because their kids were two years apart in age, and (at the time) our school didn't have all day kindergarten.

You might see if you can put Georgia in after school care for an hour, just so that you don't have to race across town. Or maybe a friend can help you out.

Thea @ It's Me Vs. Me said...

We are going to be facing a similar problem with my son and daughter in the fall...

But I won't know until late summer if the Kindergarten is morning or afternoon. It changes every year based on what the parents of the incoming class want. They take a survey.

Just make a decision so I can plan ahead!!!

withthanksgiving said...

We've had similar problems here.

Can Eli take a bus? that might give you an extra few minutes to pick up Georgia and get home?

Or I guess you might have to pay extra for Georgia to stay after. That really stinks though. So much for any time of unwinding while the kids are in school. You will be so stressed about racing around.

maggie at coffeeshopmafia.com

Ladybug Crossing said...

Relax. Been there. Done that. It will all work itself out. The preschool is used to this sort of thing happening. Just be first in line for kindergarten pickup.
If you are a couple of minutes late for Georgia, so be it. Better late than dead, I say.
You will get used to it and you will be fine. Just think of it as training for the high school years! :-)
xo
LBC