Lately Avrie has really been showing an interest in going to preschool. Morgan and I decided that this next term we will send her two days a week so she can see what its all about and hopefully start to prepare for kindergarten. Open enrollment starts May 15th and I'm totally stuck and can't decide where to send her.
I spent the first few years of Elementary School in Trimble County. Having been born and raised there I had alot of really good friends. Sometime in early Elementary I moved, going to a few different schools in a few different counties, even spent a year in Indiana. My 9th grade year I moved back to Trimble County and that's where I stayed until I graduated. Alot of time passed from the Elementary years to the High School years and alot of those close childhood friends were like strangers now and it felt almost like I was starting over in a place I'd never been before. I managed to keep a couple of those friends - (you know who you are XOXO) and made a few new ones ( you know who you are too XOXO). But it always did and still does bother me that I don't have any true forever friends, kids that I have been close to since birth and continued to be close to in adulthood. I don't want this for my girls. I want them to have forever friends that have been by their sides since day 1.
Morgan on the other hand has those forever friends. All of his close friends he has known since Elementary School, and he talks to most of these guys at least once a week, more if the fishing is good. These are the kinds of friendships I want the girls to have. I realize that these friendships need to start early and continue indefinately. This leads me to my dilemma.
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| Avrie and Grace at Avrie's 2nd Birthday Party |
Avrie has been going to her babysitter since she was 2 months old. Piper has been going to the same babysitter since she was about 3 months old. Gina, the sitter has 4 children - Grace (8), Collin (6), Cole (3 months younger than Avrie) and Jayden (3 months older than Piper.) Avrie and Grace are almost inseperable, they have adopted each other as sisters. Avrie will tell you that Grace is her best friend and Collin is her next best friend. All of Gina's kids go to or will go to the same school in Sebastopol - a town maybe 15 minutes from where I live. Our kids have already started to grow up together, Avrie and Cole will be in the same grade, Piper and Jayden will be in the same grade... I'm considering sending the girls to school in Sebastopol instead of our local School District.
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| Collin and Avrie at Avrie's 3rd Birthday Party |
Do I try to foster these early childhood bonds they have made with the daycare kids or do I try to help them create new friendships in our local school district - which also happens to be where most of my friends will be sending their kids and where Morgan went. I would love to be able to go to school events and see all my girlfriends and Morgan's friends there, cheering all the kids on. I would also be love for Avrie to be able to say she has known her very best friend since she was 2 months old. Whatever we do, my goal is to start them in the school district they will want to finish in. If I sign Avrie up for preschool in Sebastopol, I would like to see her continue there, unless she wants something different. Same goes if I sign her up at Shoreline USD. Its a tough decison and I know it can all change at the drop of a hat, but I really want to think it out. Better figure it out soon - May 15th is just around the corner!
My 2 cents...for what it is worth. First off, your children have 2 of the most amazing parents I know of and EACH OTHER. That said, the friendship they have now, with Grace & Collin, will always be special. In the same school or not. But friendships sustain over the years because of communities, or neighborhoods, as we called them. Where you live is your neighborhood. Your house gives them all the love and acceptance they will need to a certain point, the neighborhood supports that. Teh games, the parties, the times you "run into each other", the laughter, and the tears, this is what Morgan and Jared and many of the "neighborhood" kids share, and always will. As a 53 year old, who spent the first 4 years of her life in Brooklyn (with friends I still keep in my heart, and some my life), and the next 40 plus in a new neighborhood (The Budd), with friends I have built a life upon, I say go with your own backyard, and invite everyone over once in a while. You have created the home for both Avrie and Piper that can send them anywhere and build a life of friendships. Probably more like a buck than 2 cents!
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