It's March Madness time again....and it has nothing to do with basketball.
This happened to me last year and I thought that, even though I missed the boat for last time, I was set up pretty well for this go-around. Last March, knowing nothing about the process, I decided to start looking around for a pre-school for the girls, just in case. Well, by mid-March, everyone is full for the September-June school year. Apparently, pre-school sign up are usually sometime in early February. So, I ended up putting myself - or the girls, rather - on the waiting lists of two different schools that I liked. Each time you put yourself on a waiting list, it costs money, too. To increase my odds, I even joined a new church in the hopes that it would elevate my status enough to be guaranteed a spot for the '08-09 year. Not wanting to "lose" a spot or waste the registration fee I had to put down, I met with our #1 choice a couple of times, trying my best to schmooze while simultaneously not seeming over-bearing. It dawned on me last week that I was supposed to have heard from them over two-weeks ago whether or not our spots on the waiting list would be elevated to guaranteed positions. Humm... better check into this... Phone call in hasn't yet returned and throws me into a panic. "What if we don't get in??"
After a few days, I start calling our second choice. "You're in luck! Today was the deadline for registration for priority members (ie, church members). There's still room before we open it up to the general public, but you need to come in now." And it's not entirely ideal as their Fridays are full. I was hoping to have the girls start 3-days a week. Number 2 choice is more economic, but it's a also commute. Not sure I want to commit to commuting the girls knowing that I'll also have a new baby who's schedule will change dramatically during that time. As his needs change, it will complicate things profoundly. So, now I'm stuck. Do I spend the money to register at our #2 choice or wait to hear from #1? I call #1, my message a little panicked, and don't get a returned call, again.
On top of all of this, I hear from my mother-in-law that a school I'd originally been interested in has moved from it's previously undesirable location to just a few blocks away from our house. It's an Italian-immersion school which would be great for the girls and nurturing their Italian heritage. So, all the sudden the old #2 is demoted to #3. I call, anxious to hear if they have space. Although we're considered "priority" students since we're Italian and can reinforce the language at home, they're also full. However, we would be #2 and #3 on their waiting list. Yet another school to pay a non-refundable registration fee just to wait on a list.
Well, we need to make a decision. Do I calmly wait to see if school #1 calls us back with the good news that we're guaranteed? Or, do I pay the enrollment for #2, hoping that #1 lets us in - then we just have to eat the $80 enrollment fees? Or, has the #3 school now become our #1 meaning that even if we get into and enroll in #1, we'd still like to wait and enroll at the Italian school. This means that we'd not only eat the waiting list registration fees for all three schools, but would likely eat the enrollment fees for two of them as well. Confused? Mama, mia! And you thought that the basketball brackets were complicated!
