P.M.S.

No, not the kind you're thinking! I've been MIA all week and it's because of a little symptom I'd like to call "Preschool Madness Syndrome". Yup it sneaks up on you full force and makes you lose all sensibility. Hmmm...now that I think about it, it does have a lot in common with the well known moniker!

Your days consist of visiting schools, attending open houses, filling out apps, debating in your head the advantages of 3 day/5 day/full day/half day, traditional/faith-based/montessori, drop off & pick up times, enrichments, certified teachers, uniforms, admissions testing, tuition equivalent to a mortgage...ok luxury car payment, but you get the picture!

It's no wonder I've slept 4 or less hours every night for the past week. I go to bed praying for clarity on our school decision for the little pumpkin. I wake up with a new front runner every morning :)

There's even a camp out. Yes, a camp out. I used to laugh at the ridiculousness (is that even a word?) of it all. That is, until it was MY little preschooler, and then all of a sudden pitching a tent for 24 hrs - yes 24 hrs - in a parking lot on a Sunday in February seemed "necessary". That quickly passed. I think the justification was due to the lack of sleep.

Being the self-diagnosed OCD person I am {only partially kidding}, I made a nice little chart to compare all the schools, except the list keeps changing and now I need 11x17" paper to fit them all in.

Even my poor hubby has schools on the brain. Seems to be our main topic of conversation these days. Except he told me my chart was Information Overload {shhhh...he's right}. Seems so frivolous when you think about Haiti and all the suffering they have endured.

Whatever happened to kids staying at home until first grade? Or at least kindie?

But we're close. Really close. We're down to two. We both agree on our choices. Our minds are finally made up....I think.

I love it when God throws you what I like to call a little "God-wink". You know a little unexpected joy in the middle of a stressful time. An affirmation as if to say "I've heard your prayers, you need not fret any more". Like the sweetest little voice yesterday belonging to an almost three year old singing "He's got the whole world in His hands" soon followed by an even sweeter request for a Gorilla Bar (granola bar) just to keep it in perspective, you know :)

An unexpected block of free time today allowed for a visit to a school that wasn't even on our original list but quickly became one of our top choices. After all, what could be better than sweet teachers you can immediately tell love children in a nurturing Christian environment? No Open House needed here, just warm people full of hospitality. And then a God-wink to seal the deal. After inquiring about their schedule the kind lady told me that for next year they are changing their school days to the half-days that SPECIFICALLY match our ideal school days for Grace. We can even register next week if we want and pick the teacher that I really liked from today's visit. Wow!

So it looks like P.M.S. will soon be over. THANK YOU to all of you who have helped us in this process! And thank goodness for a little weekend getaway. If I owe you an email, I'm so sorry I'm late...now you know why :) I'll be catching up early next week!