decision made–thank you for your help!

I took each of the boys to the new school to let them see for themselves, and ended up with a tricky situation.

Exacto dug in his heels saying that he absolutely did not want to change schools.

Fluffy said that it looked wonderful and he looked forward to going there next year, but really wanted to finish this year of homeschooling.

Hummer insisted that he also didn’t want to change, but I could see that he would benefit immediately by the switch.

But the openings were for the older boys, which brought in Hummer only with “sibling preference.” Without siblings attending, he would go into the lottery pool.

Lots of prayers went up from this heart during those couple of days we had to decide. And I was SO GRATEFUL for all of you who emailed or commented. I was amazed at the general consensus! That really helped me have the courage to decide and do what we did. . . .

Even though it caused me the grief of giving up my dream of having all my school kids at the same school, and totally went against my inclination to try to control—especially when it comes to influences on my children—, I yielded to the quiet heavenly prompting that Exacto should be allowed to choose for himself.

I am still sad about it, but feel that it was/is right. (Although I do hope that he may change his mind yet. . . :o).

With Fluffy, I agreed that he should get to finish his year with Mommy. We have already spent hundreds of $s on books and are having a wonderful time.

And for Hummer, I felt that if it was meant to be, he would get in through the lottery.

Rather sheepishly but with that undercurrent of peace that always signifies a right path for me, I informed the school of our decision.

Three days later – while we were on our way home from a weekend in Utah – they called to say that Hummer’s name had come up in the lottery. (Two were called before him but declined).

It was a difficult week. Hummer really had made a connection with his teacher at the first school and there were lots of tears and even some anger. I started to second-guess the decision and even shed some tears myself when we went to say goodbye to his teacher. Thank goodness I’ve learned to lean on an answer even when the initial peace is no longer present.

I was torn between sharing his pain and jealousy that I didn’t get to go to this school. I’ve told him several times that I wish I could come with him every day and learn what he is learning. He smiles and says he wishes that, too. :o)

We’ve had to scramble to get him clothes that meet their dress code and he’s had to learn to write in cursive flying by the seat of his pants (I wonder how Captain Literally would handle that? :). Latin is great but he’s nervous about the first day of karate tomorrow. Anyway, like I said, I’m jealous.

And, amazingly enough, he seems really happy now! I hope the worst is already over. He is being wooed by books and stories like Mary Poppins and Rip van Winkle and I’ve heard him humming Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra in the bathroom. There are other children of our faith who attend there, who introduced themselves after seeing his CTR ring. “I’m a Mormon, too!” :)

Next year Fluffy will join him there, and the year after, Rosebud. But for now I think our little trailblazer is going to be just fine.