K4 Open House Mania

C-man is scheduled to start K4 in the fall. And believe it or not, registrations are THIS WEEK. Am I the only one that thinks that requiring registration 8 months in advance is completely insane? So our three acceptable choices are: public school, Lutheran school he's already at, Catholic school attached to our parish. Public School It's a great public school. Everyone who goes there thinks highly of it. Our neighbor kid goes there, and they are very pleased. It gets great test scores and overall ratings. Because K4 is half-day, we would have to send him through the before-school Y program. Which, believe it or not, costs more than our current situation. He would ride a bus, but would do so with our next door neighbor. There would be no rest time, because as a full-day kid, he'd get PM kindergarten. While I had to register him at 7:30 this morning, I have the open house to go to at 7 tonight. If we choose one of the other two options, then I have to withdraw him. Stupid. Overall, my first introduction into the system has felt more wet blanket and less warm hug. And in case you didn't realize, I'm pretty big on gut feelings. Lutheran School A great school. It's much smaller than the public school (could be pro or con), but has great test scores and reviews. He's already there and LOVES the K4 teacher. Everyone in the school already knows him, and he's familiar with the school. And we've really loved the teachers. The curriculum is a lot of fun, they do animal stuff and even have guinea pigs and fish and other stuff in the room. They have a rest time after lunch. And they do the whole Jesus element. If we move, he could stay in the same school. It's also cheaper than the public school. My open house experience was really, really positive. Felt a lot like a big warm hug. Catholic School It would mean joining where we belong for church. It's a great school, small, but has fabulous test scores and reviews too. And if we're looking for the Jesus element, it would at least be teaching the "right" religion. (Not to imply one religion is better than the other, only that we're Catholic, and it would coincide with what we practice) If we move houses, he could stay in the same school. The open house is Sunday, so I'm not sure about the cost element or wet blanket vs. warm hug feelings yet. The really positive thing about this? We can't possibly make a wrong choice. All three are great options. It's just a matter of figuring out what's the best option for him as a 4 year old. And I do realize that this isn't the difference between good college or not. And I know that this decision is only for this year and next year we could enroll him in public if we decided against it this year. But I recognize that it is an important decision as he gets introduced more formally to school that he learns to like it and not hate it right off the bat. So, I'm the open-house Mama this week. ************************* Riley news: The vet said that Riley has been doing really, really well. They're a bit worried that he has a UTI, though, so they will have the confirmation of that in a couple of hours. His urine is "brownish". And when they've let him move on his own, he's been okay, but when they sling-walk him he's a "brat". Apparently he didn't like his rectal exam either (but really, who can blame him for THAT?!?). She took him off his pain medicine cocktail drip to see how he does on just the pain patch and oral pain meds. If he does well, and we can get the UTI stuff straightened out, we'll get him home tonight. And by the way - explaining to C-man why his dog is going to come home with only half a leg was not the easiest thing I've ever done. I'm hoping it'll just be normal to him after the next couple of days. I think I might have to get a book on people with disabilities to help explain it better. UPDATE: He does have a UTI, so he'll be on antibiotics too, now. What's one more pill at this point? It just means he's hurting more than he should be, and might be a bit more snarly than usual. It also means we have to delay chemo until it's completely gone. But the nice thing is I have a pickup time of 3:30 p.m. Riley's coming home. ************************* And last, but definitely not least: Happy 43rd, Mom and Dad!