On Preschool.

Jack turns three in June. 

Three = eligible for fall preschool enrollment.

Yesterday was a day where, despite having gone to bed at 1 am the night before (poor, poor decision), I made a concerted effort to really engage with the boys. Jack and I worked on alphabet flash cards, I crawled around on the floor a lot, we sang Raffi songs. I mean - I really gave it my all. And by noon (when Tim came home), after five hours of active toddler engagement, I was totally exhausted.  And that's just five hours. I know most moms give it a good solid eight hours before their spouses come home. Not to mention single parents! So you'd think I'd be celebrating the day when I could bring Jack to a place where they will teach him lots of neat things and do lots of creative activities while Moses and I kick back at home eating bon bons and oat puffs.

I was SURE I'd be excited for the day. Not because I don't like raising my kids, or because I dislike my time with Jack. But anyone who has two children 2 years and younger at home (who rarely nap at the same time) knows we all could use a little break every now and then. And when that break means someone is teaching my child valuable life skills - even better. Especially since there's some crazy statistic out there that kids who go to preschool have a higher rate of obtaining college degrees. So basically, if I don't send Jack to preschool I'm setting him up for a life of future hardship.

Nice try, statistics.

In any case, I love the idea of preschool. I just don't love the mega bucks it costs to attend (why aren't they free?!) Plus I started to feel sad that I would miss out on being a part of those "hands on" years of learning. But then I was like "Come on, Lauren. YOU can do that." Naturally, I have visions of Jack and I skipping through the woods examining leaf samples with magnifying glasses. And making solar systems out of styrofoam balls. And making lots of hand-print turkeys for Thanksgiving. Sure, it's probably not going to be a cakewalk, but preschool is expensive. While part of our tax return would certainly cover the fees, I think it's worth it for me to at least try my hand at intentionally educating him in the way a preschool teacher would. Between Pinterest and the craft store I'm sure I'll manage to sort something out.

That all said, I know I'm going to have to be organized in order to make this fun instead of stressful. To do it well, I'd want to set aside exclusive time with Jack two days out of the week (based off a normal preschool schedule) to do some intentional learning, which would mean I'd need someone to care for Moses.

I'd also like to follow some sort of curriculum - mostly because I suck when it comes to thinking about creative activities. I found this option through another blog and I think it could work well since it's simple, free, and incorporates faith into the lessons.

So that's the plan. 

Any advice on how to go about doing this in a fun, non-stressful way?