A NEW DAY HAS COME

When I received the call that Ava had gotten in to St. Croix Prep charter school on Wednesday, March 3rd at about 4pm (yes I remember the date and the time the call was received as this was a HUGE call - a call I have been waiting for ever since she was in preschool) I was in a state of shock. So much so that I was not sure what to say to the lovely lady who was waiting patiently on the line for me to respond to her telling me they had an opening for Ava. An opening that I had long since given up hope on being that there are an average of 2oo kids on the wait list for each grade [yes, wait lists are that long.] An opening that needed to be filled on March 22nd to boot - a mere two weeks away. So I am sure you can understand my inability to come up with a single thing to say to her. But don't think for a moment that my mind wasn't swirling with a myriad of questions that I wanted answers to.

2 weeks from now, really? How did a spot open? I thought we were, say, 150th or something on the wait list - how on earth did the spot become available for her? Why can't she start after the summer as a 2nd grader? Will her brother Lucas have a spot in 1st grade for next year? Will Anthony, Liv and the baby [presently cooking away in my uterus] automatically get a spot in Kindergarten when it comes time? Will this have a huge affect on Ava, being that she has been at Lily Lake now for almost two years, established her friendships and is very comfortable there? Will the kids accept her at the new school; Welcome her, and make her feel comfortable?

My inner ramblings were stopped by the ever so patient woman on the other end saying, "Mrs. Shelton, I know this is a huge decision; but just so you know this opportunity will most likely never come around again. We had a student leave as his Dad had a job transfer, this rarely happens, and this is why the spot opened up for Ava. I understand what a huge decision this is for you and your husband, and I want you to take some time to think about it, but I just want to be honest with you."

This seemed to snap me out of my momentary inability to speak out loud and the questions came flowing. [Oh, the poor, poor soul on the other line that was inundated with all of my questions and made to answer each and every one.] I asked every single question I asked myself above, and was given answers to all, answers I quite liked. I was confident that we could not pass this opportunity up, as if we did I had a feeling we would regret our decision for a lifetime.

What to do, what to do? Well of course, sit down with The Mr. and hash this all out. The only problem was that the Mr. was out of town on business until Saturday evening so I was unable to sit down with him, go over the pro's and con's and make this huge decision.

I was told to wait until the husband arrived home to talk with him, make a decision and call back on Monday.

No more than 2 minutes after getting off of the phone I picked it up again and called the Mr. I did not even seem to find the time to say "Hi." and just started in: "You-won't-believe-what-just-happened-I-got-a-call-from-st-croix-prep-and-they-have-a-spot-for-Ava-what-are-we-going-to-do?? His response was, naturally, to advise me to slow down and talk in a not so panicked voice. We attempted to talk about it for a bit, though that proved to be very difficult as his cell phone was breaking up every few seconds. I decided it was best to get off of the phone with him and get on the phone with my Mom. She was always a good voice of reason in situations like this.

We talked and talked - well, I talked and talked. Going over all the pro's and con's, all the "what ifs" all the worries, everything. I talked about how I never thought about these kinds of things before having kids, you know, the tough stuff. I talked about how hard it is being a parent sometimes, trying to make the right decisions for my children, and trying to do what is best for them is never ever easy. She listened, agreed, and gave me her input. In the end she helped me to realize what an amazing opportunity this was for Ava, and even though it was hard, and somewhat scary to be the one to make such a huge decision on behalf of Ava, we just simply could not pass it up. I agreed, got off the phone and felt good about saying yes. I love my Mom.

Then I sat down with Miss Ava to talk to her. I wanted to pick her brain and see just what she thought about going to a different school. Before I could even finish my sentence she was crying. I mean all out sobbing and panicking, crying out "No, I don't want to leave my friends Emily and Zoe or Mrs. Tolaas Mama, Nooooooooo!!!" What was I thinking? I could not do this, I could not tear her from what she knows, her friends, teachers, her comfort zone. How could I?I decided to press on and continue talking to her about it in the hopes she would calm down, listen long enough to think about how fun this change could be. After assuring her she could still have her weekly play dates with Emily and Zoe, and that we could visit Miss. Tolaas too she seemed to warm to the idea. Even asked me some questions. "Where is the school?" "Will I know anyone?" "Can I go see it before I start going there?" "What will my teachers name be?" I answered all of the questions, and with each answer I could see her excitement growing. We ended our conversation with her saying "Alright Mama, I want to go to that new school."

Whew. Now I just had to discuss this all with the Mr. when he arrived home, call back the school and give them an answer. For the next few days, this decision consumed me. I changed Liv's diaper I was thinking about it, I folded laundry I was thinking about it, I laid awake at night thinking about it. All I did was think about it. You may think I was making a mountain out of a mole hill here, and maybe I was a bit. But this was my daughter, my Ava Marie. She would have to leave the school she knows and loves, not me. She would have to adjust to a new schedule, new friends, a different way of learning; not me. I was having to make the decision, yet she was the one that would be affected by the decision I made. In my eyes this is an incredibly important decision, one that I needed to think and think and think about.

Saturday finally came, and when the Mr. got home we talked about it. We talked and talked - again, I did most of the talking and he did most of the listening [he is good like that.] We decided that we had to say yes.

Monday morning came, I called the school, and with much anticipation I accepted the spot for our Ava Marie. After I hung up the phone I felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my chest. It was such a bittersweet moment for me - thinking of the amazing opportunity that Ava was given being able to get this type of education, and thinking of what a great adventure this was going to be for her to make new friends. But at the same time I was sad to think of her having to leave Lily, where Emily and Zoe, her brother, and teachers were. Where everything she has grown to know and love and find comfort in were.

Today was her first day at St. Croix Prep;

Anthony, Liv and I drove her to school and dropped her off at her classroom. I left her surrounded by her new teachers and students welcoming her. I was happy. As we walked back to the car, Anthony and Liv hand in hand, we chatted about how they would someday get to come to this school. Anthony seemed to like the idea, while Miss Liv did not have much to say most likely because she was concentrating on keeping up with her brother.



As I drove away from Ava's new school I felt an overwhelming sense that all was well. Because I knew; I knew we made the right decision for Ava.