No, No, No

For those people who used to read my blog but stopped because all I ever talk about is the international schooling woes, sorry but it isn't time to come back.  Here is yet another post about schooling your kid overseas.

After much thought, discussion, phone calls, crying, praying, and then doing it all over again Seth and I decided however awesome the International School of Brussels is (please take a look at the link and do the virtual tour so you can have your jaw drop like mine did), it just isn't worth it for our family.

They could seriously teach Stella how to ride a horse on her head and speak eight languages and it still wouldn't be worth it.  Why?  Why?

Well, to get my dear one to this El Dorado of schools we would have to get her up at 6:45 to catch the bus, Stella is not a morning person to begin with.  We would get crabby Stella up and feed and dress her to catch her bus.  She would be on this bus for over an hour.  Oh, and she would be on a bus with kids from ages 3-18.  Even though this is a private school I remember my days of public schooling and I know that rotten things happen on buses, rotten.  But that is besides the point.

So little S gets to school and has a full eight hours of instruction.  She then takes an hour bus ride home and is home by 4:30.  She is tired and cranky when she comes home.

I feed her by 5:30 and get her ready for bed by 6:30, thats right because she will be five, and five year olds need about 12 hours of sleep.

Which would mean, she does not see her dad, as in until Saturday.

You see at this post Seth works pretty late and a lot of days we dont' see him until 7 in the evening.  So, if we go to this school Stella will not be able to see her dad much and probably be super cranky.

There is an alternative, I could drive her and shorten her 2 hour commute to 1.25 hours.  But that means Tiger won't be able to go to preschool and gas is not cheap here, and really?  Is it really worth it?

For us, the answer is no.

Which brings me back to crying.  I have always said from the beginning the only conisistency I can give my kids in this life is the international school system and already from the get go I am messing around with that.  Perhaps I have a bit of mommy guilt but isn't that part of the job?

In the end we are putting Stells in a fantastic school that is bilingual and perfect for her needs. I decided what is best for the family is what is best for this five year old.

Next post that is churning in my head: local schools and parental involvement.  Here is the premise: PTAs don't exist and you scare us crazy American.