Pre-School Registration

Today DH and I took the girls to check out our church's preschool.  We were looking for a social and physical outlet for them, not so much a traditional "school".  (We will probably home school later down the road, but that's another post for another day.)  Basically I can teach them what they need to know, but I can't be their friends.  They need to get used to dealing with all kinds of different people - so preschool for a few years! 

So here's the story - last week it snowed in NC.  Fantastic, Open House at preschool was supposed to be that day, but everything was closed.  So they rescheduled for today.  

9:30am - We are there, right on time.  We walk into a room with about 6-8 other families sitting at tables.  Now I'm thinking that we should be in line somewhere to register - returning students and families get to register first for classes of about 15, so I knew that there couldn't have been much space available.  I was hoping to at least get my oldest a decent space on the waitlist.  

So the director starts chatting - giving us all detailed information.  We're going to register, then take a tour, would anyone like a snack, etc... 

We were sitting at the back of the room and I could not figure out how in the world they were going to work the registration process.  

Well, the director started asking for 1yr olds for the Mommy's Morning Out class - no takers. 

Then Two's - myself and one other lady raise our hands.  Other lady wants to tour and discuss with her husband first.  Falls to me.  (We had decided that we would put all our eggs in the church preschool basket and if it didn't work out, then I would just keep lining up playdates like I do now - so I knew I wanted to register BOTH of my kids.) 

I go up to talk to the secretary while the director continues to talk to the other parents.  

I hand over my completed paperwork and answer the secretary's questions - then I hear, "Ok, does anyone have threes?"  Everyone else's hands shoot up.  Director keeps talking...

Me to secretary - I have a two and a three.  

Secretary - OH. Um... Oh... Well, hang on a second, I need to talk to her about that! 

Now, as you can imagine, all kinds of horrible situations are running through my mind here - what?  did I do something wrong?  Can you only send ONE child to preschool?  I don't want to send the baby and leave the oldest at home.  Oh my goodness, what if there is some rule that I didn't read?  I'm about to be embarrassed in front of all these people.  

By this time the secretary has gotten the director's attention and she has stopped talking.  

Secretary - She has a two and a three.  

Director - Oh, well then, she gets priority.  Sorry folks, there are no longer an spaces left in the THREES class! 

I'm pretty sure that my mouth fell open at this point.  I quickly got out my purse and paid the registration fee.  Go sit down next to DH, who looks over at me and says, "AWKWARD!" 

Apparently while I was registering the first child, the director had been explaining to everyone that there was one space left in the threes class that would be filled by lottery and that your spot on the waitlist would also be determined by lottery.  So here everyone was thinking that they had a fighting chance to get into this preschool and I totally swiped it! 

I mean, it was all "fair" according to their rules, but I still felt bad.  To make matters worse, none of the other parents would even look at me or DH the whole time we were touring the facility.  

Such an awkward experience! I couldn't feel excited for us because I was so sad for the other families.  So, yeah, strange morning!