As luck would have it

Steve and I finally went into our nearby public Montessori preschool this morning to observe the classroom and try and decide if this is the route we want to go with Olivia.

Having gone to Montessori schools age 3-8 myself, it was like a trip down memory lane for me. I recognized activities that haven't changed in 30 years!

I just had to share with Steve my fond memory of the one and only time in all of my school years of getting in trouble. 1st grade, my friend Rachel and I wanted to take some counting bears home, so I stuffed them down my tights. Would have been a "great idea" if by the end of the day the bears hadn't collected around my ankles. Bumpy ankles are always cause for suspicion by teachers. It was so traumatizing that it seriously was one of the only times I ever got in trouble in school.

This school seems ideal. The classroom we observed was great. Racially diverse. Students working busily. It was strange sitting there trying to imagine O in the mix. I think she'll fit in great. Teachers greeted and welcomed us in the hallway, practically giving us commercials for why we should send our child there, most emphasising that their own children have passed through those very halls.

The next step in the process is filling out the application and then bringing her in for a screening. I'm still nervous about how I'll do having my baby gone every morning. Girl is ready for a challenge and I think will thrive in such an environment. People pay thousands and thousands of dollars to send their kids to Montessori school. If she gets in, this will cost us $25 for the whole year. (And I think I'm getting a good deal each week at CVS...look out!) Pretty much kids would have been needing to be stringing each other up from the ceiling and the teacher napping in the corner for us to not give this one a shot.

Now with our luck, our house will sell and we'll end up in a school district that is not failing! We've got all the luck!