Change

Today's gift is change.

I love being back on our school routine.....and the kids love it too.  I love having some "quiet" time to myself during the day....whether I am preparing dinner, doing laundry, exercising, grocery shopping, driving in my car....whatever it is I am doing having some time with no interruptions is wonderful.  All three kids in school, five days a week, between two schools....the girls go to one and my son is in his last year of preschool so he only goes for three hours a day unless he does extend a day.

For the past seven years one of my three children attended this wonderful preschool in our town.  I love everything about the school, except the distance it is from my house.  However, year after year, you become more involved in the school family and it gets harder and harder to leave.  Over the last seven years I spent one hour of my "three hour" preschool window driving in my car....to school (15 minutes)....back home or near my home (15 minutes)....back to school (15 minutes)....and back home (15 minutes).  It never "hit" me until this summer when I was driving my son back and forth for his summer camp how much driving I do every day taking him to school.

My kids were very happy at this preschool and they made some wonderful friends, as did we.  The school was supportive of our family and this school was even home to my daughter with Rett Syndrome when she went to preschool in her early school years.  The staff was incredible and knew us...they knew our story...we felt welcome and we felt comfortable.  

I went back and forth...and back and forth...and back and forth as what to do for my son for preschool this year....his last year of preschool.  Should I just bite the bullet and stay one more year....heck what is 8 years after doing 7.....or should I make the switch and make something "easy" for myself once in my life?  It was a decision where I was constantly making my pros and cons list....and then second guessing myself.  My husband was supportive in whatever decision I finally made...I knew where he stood....but he was going to let me make the final call.

I decided I would make the switch and move him for his pre-k year of preschool.  It was a decision which was extremely hard for me to make, but one I knew in my heart was the right choice....for him and for our family.  There are not many things I can control in my life, but this was one I could....and I did.

He started his first full week today and he is happy as a clam!  He jumped right into his new school and didn't miss a beat.  I am so happy for him...happy he feels comfortable and walks right in, happy he is close to home (which means a VERY short drive!), and happy he can participate in after school programs (he could not do this at his old school due to the driving time and having to get his sisters from school).

If it hadn't been for my daughter with special needs, I don't think I would have changed his preschool and I would have just "sucked it up"for one more year.  She has taught me change is okay and sometimes a change is what we need.  I see how throughout her life we have made changes to her routines, therapies and schooling and they either have worked or didn't work....but when the change was what was needed it was apparent immediately.

The change to the new preschool for my son has been HUGE for me.  I don't feel rushed in the mornings or in the afternoons to get things done, I am more relaxed as I am not driving on the interstate every day any more, I am able to take my son to his tae kwon do lessons right after school so we don't have to fit one more thing into our weekends.....and it has only been 2 days!  I can't imagine how I will feel after one month!  Change can be scary...as there are a lot of unknowns, but it can also be the right decision.  I have no regrets and I know this change was meant to be.

Here are some quotes for today......

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference- Reinhold Niebuhr

Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same- Author Unknown

Change isn't bad.  It's how we react to and adapt to a change which discerns whether it affects our lives in a positive or negative way- Author Unknown

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly- Henri Bergson