Yup, my child is not even 14 months old and I'm already worried about where to send him to school. More specifically that I don't want to send him to school in the area we currently live in. Which means we will have to move. And relatively soon. Yeah, the grade schools in this area aren't as bad as the high school, but I don't want to uproot the little guy and make him 'start over' somewhere new. I'm sure this has to do with my own personal social anxiety issues, and maybe he wouldn't actually care, but I just hate the idea. Many many moons ago when I was gearing up to start school, we were living in one part of town but were going to be moving to another part within the year. Which meant I would have had to start school in one place and then switch to another. I was five years old and can still clearly hear myself pitching a fit that I did not want to do that. I remember my older brother (already in high school, so he wasn't going to be effected) trying to convince me that School A would be fine, telling me about the fish tank the kindergarten classroom had, etc. Nope. I wasn't going to do it. Five years old and stomping my feet screaming that I wanted to start school with the same kids I would finish with. Never went to preschool, so it's not like I had friends going to School B or anything, so I'm really not sure why I got that idea into my head. I also don't know how I got my way. Again, I was five. At the end of the day, I really had no say in the matter. Much like when I also decided (I was a very decisive child, apparently) that my room in our new house HAD to be pink. It just HAD to. Yet somehow, I got my way. (On both counts - I grew to hate that pink room - the only non-beige walls in the entire house, but I got it.) Since we already owned the property in the district we were moving to (house was being built) I was allowed to enroll in School B. Until we actually moved, my parents would drive me across town to meet the bus. (Not sure why at that point they didn't just drive me all the way to school, but knowing me I probably also insisted on taking the bus.)
Anyway, since I am clueless as to how to raise a child, I'm operating on a 'good enough for me, good enough for my kid' philosophy. So if I didn't want myself uprooted, how can I do that to my little guy? I suppose I will be doing it regardless, because there is no chance of us moving before he starts preschool, but I tell myself that it's okay because the way our current location does preschool, you get mixed in with a different batch of kids every session and it's only a few hours a week, so I kind of see it as play groups and not actual school. (But yes, he will be going to preschool, even though I didn't. I'm fairly certain my lack of socialization as a very small child is what led to my social anxiety in the first place.)
Moving was always the plan. And it wasn't supposed to be a problem. Real estate is the safest investment you can make, right? Sure was the case when I sold my condo years ago. Turned a very nice profit, after only living there for 3.5 years. This house was just supposed be a starter home. The condo was too small, so we moved for more space, not to stay here forever. The price was right, the location is great, the taxes are relatively low. Bad schools, but not a problem for a couple not even married yet, much less thinking about children. We would sell the house at a another nice profit and move when that became a concern. And then the housing market tanked. Practically the entire town is in foreclosure, lowering the value of our house dramatically. I was initially not concerned, figuring that everything would rebound by the time we needed to think about relocation. And it's starting to. Everywhere but here. So while the values here are still declining, they are overall starting to increase. My only consolation at the notion of selling at a loss is that the next house would also cost less to buy. But that may not end up being the case. Argh!
Yes, it's a few years before we truly have to relocate. But time flies so fast, it will be here before we know it. I want what is best for the little guy, and that certainly isn't this town, so staying here is not an option. Sigh...
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