Free School

This year, my husband and I decided to pull E1 from private school and send her to our neighborhood school. She starts first grade on Monday and her own words, "Is a little excited." Change is difficult for anyone and I am not too concerned about her nervousness because I had concerns too with this decision.

I had. Past tense. I am no longer concerned at all. This school is great. It runs like a well oiled machine and quite honestly, it is "fancier" than the crazy expensive private school we left.  The building itself is not fancier, but everything else screams private school and I just laugh that I was worried.

Our fancy free school has:

A PTO with its own website. Yeah. Their own website. WTF. There is the school's website and then the PTO's website. Both have their own information. Both have their own forms to fill out for the school year.

A volunteer form with so many opportunities to help I thought I was joining the Junior League. It is so amazing the PTO can provide all these events....remind me again, this is a public school? I was afraid of sending my kid here?

PTO dues. We are so fancy our dues start at $30. For $50 you can receive a school directory plus membership. $75 or more and you are a friend of the school. You do not have to donate the minimum suggested amount of $30. You can click OTHER and enter your amount. Um, I am not "othering" my PTO dues our first year at a new school. I am not going to be the mom trying to volunteer and trying to help my daughter make new friends and at the same time be the "other" mom. Not going to fucking happen. This PTO is fancy because people like me are too nervous to be an OTHER. Fucking suburban peer pressure - and note to all of you, no one has made me feel this way. This is my own shit. I hope to meet an OTHER mom soon and maybe I can follow her lead next year. Or maybe I will be volunteer of the year and we will be "friends" with our school next year...who knows.

First Day of School Teacher Gifts. Say what? I was in Target today buying MORE crap for our first year in free school when I bumped into a friend of mine. She showed me her gifts for her kids' teachers. My exact response was, "Shut the fuck up." I then proceeded with, "I don't think people at E1's school do this. Shit. Let me text my friend." Oh yeah, WE do this.  DAMN IT. My friend let me know it was "no biggie" if I didn't buy one. UM. Kind of like the PTO dues, I am not being that mom. Damn suburban peer pressure.

I know it sounds like I am complaining, but I am laughing at all this. We pay damn high taxes to live in the neighborhood and our schools are fantastic. I laugh that I was ever nervous to send E1 to this school. This place and its staff have been nothing short amazing and all the friends we have met are great too.

For all the money I am going to spend this year in free school, I say bring it.
It is still less than tuition.
And it is still first world problems.

Happy School Year! First grade, here we come!