Yesterday my bank called me. I had applied for a car loan and they said my application was denied because it was “incomplete.” Nervous, I headed to the bank, only to find out that it was incomplete because they had three different addresses on my file and they didn’t know where I lived!

That’s right, in the past three years I’ve moved three times. And I’m about to do it again.

I knew that my last move (which I blogged about before) would be a temporary one. I currently live an hour away from work and can’t stand the commute, so now I’m moving to a place that is exactly eight minutes from work. Eight glorious minutes. I have never been so excited about the number eight.

What’s different about this move, however, is that this year Isabella will start going to school. I have blogged several times about her “school,” which is the word I used for her daycare/preschool facility, but now she’ll be going to SCHOOL school.

Time to put on the big-girl pants. Not Isabella—she’s been wearing her big-girl pants for a couple of years now. No, I’m the one who needs to grow up. Because this whole enrolling a child in school thing? Not as easy as it sounds. And I’m kinda being a baby about it.

First, I had to choose a place to live, which involved researching school districts. My “research” consisted of seeing how pretty the school is on the outside. (Just kidding, I made sure they had a sweet playground too.) Luckily all of the schools in the area are pretty good. But do I go for one that is within walking distance or one where Isabella can ride the bus (which she has been anticipating since age two)? What about before- and after-school care? Will I need to make drastic adjustments to my work schedule?

I ended up finding an apartment that is just down the block from an elementary school. So I called the school to find out what to do next. Here’s how that enlightening convo went…

School Person: Hello?
Me: Hi. I’m moving to the area and my daughter will be in kindergarten.
School Person: Okay… What do you need to know?
Me: Um [scrambling], what’s the first day of school?
School Person: August 20th if she’s in a.m. kindergarten. But if she’s in p.m. kindergarten she starts August 21st.
Me: How do I know if she’s in a.m. or p.m.?
School Person: You find out when you register.
Me: How do I register?
School Person: Go to the school on August 7th.
Me: Okay, bye. [I hang up.]

Two minutes later…

School Person: Hello?
Me [trying to disguise my voice so she doesn’t know I’m the idiot who called earlier]: Hi, what do I need to bring to registration on the 7th?
School Person: [Rattles off a long list of things to bring, all of which involve words like “certificate,” “original” and “notary.”]
Me: Is there before- and after-school care?
School Person: Yes, we have both. The before-school care is from 6:30 to 8:00 and the after-school care is from 2:30 to 6:00.
Me: But if my child is in p.m. kindergarten, how does she get before-school care?
School Person: Well… she doesn’t. Not here anyway.

Great. So now I have to find a daycare that would be willing to take Isabella to and from school. And hopefully that to-and-from-ness will involve a school bus? So I don’t have to destroy my little girl’s hopes and dreams of riding the bus?

The logistics are annoying and stressful right now, but I keep reminding myself that in the end Isabella and I will have a comfy little life next to her comfy little school, all only eight comfy little minutes from work. I cannot wait for the light at the end of this tunnel.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 2:13 pm and is filed under parent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.