(This is a continuation of a series posts about making the decision to register or hold back our summer birthday boy. If you missed it, check it out!)
My goodness! Where did the time fly this summer? I turn around and the summer is over and I haven’t posted the last post in this story! Ack! The final decision! The decision that may impact our little Carter well into his adult life. Any parent having to make this decision, must realize the importance of such a decision (or at least I would hope so).
After carefully weighing the pros and cons, talking with trusted family, friends and colleagues, Jeremy and I decided to hold Carter back on more year. Many factors played into this decision, but one amazing God moment during the painstaking decision made it easier for us.
You see, Carter had “graduated” from the Pre-k program at the preschool the boys attended. So along with deciding to hold Carter back, I needed to find another pre-k program that fit the needs of Carter but also stayed within our budget. A teacher I was speaking with one day suggested a pre-k that many others had suggested to us. But it was late in the registration process and we knew that there may not be any slots left for Carter. Also, it needed to fit into my criteria. I have this thing, that I didn’t want either one of my boys to attend preschool 5 days a week. In my mind, my boys will have 12 years of schooling that will require 5 days a week. So I didn’t want them to be rushed into that at such a young age (by the way, I am in no way judging those who do make that decision for their children, it was just my personal preference). This pre-k program that comes so highly recommended was only a 5 day program I was told and it was way over our budget! But I decided to call anyway and at least get some information and possibly get Carter on a waiting list. In my mind, I would put him in 5 days if that was the only option and work outside the home a little extra to pay for the overage in the tuition, if I needed too!
So this is how the conversation went with the secretary:
Me: Hi there, I’m interested to see if there are any openings in your pre-k program?
Secretary: Which program are you interested in?
Me: I was told there was only 1, is there more then that?
Secretary: Yes, there is a 5 day mornings or a 3 day afternoons.
Me: (very excitedly!) Is there any openings in the 3 day weeks?
Secretary: Yes a few spots are left.
Me: What is the cost for the 3 day?
Secretary: It will be $xxx.xx
This is where it got pretty amazing. It ended up that the tuition is $2 less per month then what we were paying!!!! Can you say “God is good!”
Not only did they have a 3 day program but it was the same cost as what I was already paying!!!! And they had an opening for Carter (which is unheard of based on the teachers I spoke to that send their kids there). Also, I didn’t mention this before, but Carter is so not a morning person, so the afternoon class would be awesome!
And come to find out, after visiting the school, the afternoon class is pretty much for summer birthdays! So the class is older and geared toward the needs of summer birthdays who already have graduated from a preschool program that may not need the typical basics taught. And it is a smaller class size so there is more one-on-one time with the students!
So after going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth some more, Jeremy and I felt this was God’s way of encouraging us to hold him back! And we felt good about it.
But don’t you know within a few weeks of making the decision, Carter decided to enjoy riding his bike (see first post) and also decided that it was time to start reading on his own. This kid of ours does things on his own timing. And I feel confident that we did make the right decision. We need to allow him the flexibility to take his time and do things when he is ready. I feel good that we don’t have to rush him and stress out if he is a little behind, because now we have the extra time to allow him to work at his own pace. Because Carter DOES beat to his own drum, learns things on his own time and his head is sometimes in the clouds where he enjoys life at his own speed. And now it’s okay to let him!
And besides, I get to squeeze in a little bit more one on one time with him while I can 
!
