Who knew finding a pre-school would be so hard?

So I've been on the search for a pre-school in the Boston area for Cameron. The thing is, I want a pre-school and not a daycare. And of course I figured things would be more expensive than here but some of them are ridiculous. We applied to the University's program and were denied, I guess it is full or whatever. And I was actually kind of relieved to be denied because it was going to be super expensive and only 2.5 hours/day. The cost was twice what we pay now which has the option of him being there all day. I would prefer something that is 4 hours/day so that I can actually get some errands done during that time.

Of course, I've debated if we should just forget about pre-school and have him home all the time. But Camer is SUPER shy and his current pre-school has helped him get over that a bit. At least with other kids, he's still mostly afraid of adults. But he's not the total cling-on that he once was. I mean, it was cute for a while but as he's gotten a little bigger, it's weird to have him clinging to my leg any time we come in contact with other people. Also, with the town we'll be living in, he could start Kindergarten next year so I would like him to be prepared.

And aside from social contact and learning stuff, I'm just not sure I can handle having him and an infant ALL day. Mary claims she'll work shorter days but I know that's something I cannot bank on. She's a workaholic to begin with and now she'll be in a new position at a prestigious university. Already, she's planning business trips starting in October.

Mostly, I feel like I have no idea what to expect from an infant because well, I've never had one and I hear horror stories. And then of course, everyone keeps making suggestions to me like I've had an infant. "Oh, it will be just like when you had Cameron at home full time." Camer may have been developmentally a 10 month old when we got him but he was 26 months old. Not exactly an infant. And everyone keeps telling me, "make sure you sleep when the baby sleeps". Umm, I'm not sure that's possible with having a 3 year old at home. Plus, he can be a pain when I have him home. He is not the cooperative 2 year old he once was.

The only real weight in having him home all day is germs. Day care kids, young school kids get sick way more than stay at home kids. So he'll be sick a lot and be bringing home germs to the baby. Something I'm not looking forward to. There's also the influence of "bad kids" which Cameron always seems to mimic. Why can't he copy the "good kids"?

So in my research, I found that the closest one to where we'll be living with the best hours, a program that he'll actually learn stuff, and reasonable tuition is at a Catholic school. Lesbians sending their kid to a Catholic school? Who knows if they'd even let him in. Mary's like it's only for a year so no big deal. We actually like the fact he'll learn about religion but I'm not sure I necessarily want that to come from a Catholic point of view. After all, I do call myself a recovering Catholic. I wish the UCC or Unitarian church had a pre-school.

Oh well, my seach will continue.