I think I am predominantly an Alpha mom, like maybe 60%---the kind who generally has things together, organized, etc., or at least I give off that vibe to others.
Maybe it is my meds (and who cares if it is), but I am also a pretty fair Slacker mom---the kind who probably leaves the tv on more than it should be on, who sometimes doesn't get her kid dressed until lunchtime, and who never remembers to brush her kid's teeth or hair before heading out for the day (although N does get a good scrubbing at night).
The funny thing is how this hybrid state applies to my dilemma over preschool. The Alpha Mom in me has been worrying over whether or not to send N to preschool. Is this the right time? Is she too young? Will she adjust well? I finally decide to bite the bullet and start calling places. In preparation Alpha Mom looks online for questions to ask preschool directors when I call this week. And then once I start reading I morph into Slacker Mom.
See Slacker Mom thinks alot of these questions are absurd, especially when I've got personal recommendations to the 4 places I'm gonna call. I mean, this is preschool so it's not like my kid is gonna be learning physics. And do I really care what the educational philosophy is? Hell, when I had to study educational philosophy for my MAT, I was doing the Picadilly "Do I want carrot cake or bread pudding" cafeteria style of selecting bits and pieces from various ones as my own personal philosophy.
I generally tend to think that a kid's educational success has more to do with what the parents do (as in encourage, reinforce, support, question, remain involved) than with what the school is because not every school or teacher or classroom or textbook suits every kid. There are some exceptions: some really all-out shitty schools that underserve virtually every kid within the walls and some really all-out shitty teachers who benefit from the professional association. But, again, this is preschool.
Yes, I'm just lazy. I don't want to spend goo-gobs of time calling, touring, asking questions because they are all gonna to be "about" the same, some offering more, some less; some costing more, some less; some closer, some further from our home, but in general, all about the same. (This laziness is part of the reason why I never took D's name when we married. It is far too much work and too costly to contact Social Security and every other outlet that has my legal name attached. I honestly think often of taking his name but the pain-in-the-butt work of it keeps me from proceeding.)
So Alpha Mom is appalled that Slacker Mom is being soo blase about the whole thing. And Slacker Mom thinks it is so funny especially given all the fretting over whether to send N to preschool at all.
1 comment:
Go with the recommendations. The reason I picked Andrew's current school is because a) they have phenomenal teacher/student ratios and b) they have a bathroom in each class so 30 minutes of the 3 hours they are there isn't spent in line at the bathroom. c) there was no wait list.(the one school recommended by everyone had a wait list for 2007 when I moved here LAST NOVEMBER!!!...no way is preschool that important for me to get wait listed a year in advance!)
And Norah will probably love it. Andrew was a totally cling-on...but he immediately took to school. Kind of hurt my feelings. ;)
I think school was the best thing for Andrew once Lily came. It gave him a place that was just his...he didn't have to share it with her at all. And we had something to really ooo and ahhh over each day he came home, which also made him feel really special.
If you've got the cash, I'd say do it. Like your friends say, you can always pull her out.
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