Well, I think we’ve pissed off the Methodists. Here’s the story:

We wanted to put my son in a preschool type program this year, just as we’d done with my daughter when she turned three. My daughter went to the program at the Madison Church of Christ, which was literally right around the corner from where we lived at the time in Madison, Alabama. Their property was adjacent to our subdivision, so it was more convenient than the one at our own church (which was in SE Huntsville and about 20 minutes away), and from what we’d heard, a better program. She loved it and so did we. She learned a lot during her time there and was very prepared for kindergarten when that time came. Therefore, we were hoping for something similar for our son.

My wife, after some research and also based on reports from friends who had children there, had determined that a particular Presbyterian church here in town was the right choice. It seemed most similar to where our daughter had attended. Unfortunately, when she got him on the waiting list, he was 22nd on the list. It didn’t appear he’d get a spot. So, we looked a couple of other places, and ended up putting him on the waiting list at a local Methodist church’s program as well. Their program was fine, although, obviously, it was not our first choice. But, we’d pretty much given up on our first choice. It was the week before the preschool started, and it appeared there was no hope of getting in for this year.

They both started last week and we were still on the waiting lists. Well, the call came last week - the Methodist program had an open spot for two days a week. We discussed it briefly and decided to go ahead and enroll him. It wasn’t choice #1, but it was still a good opportunity for him. Today would be his first day. He began talking about “going to school” and was excited. We took him up this morning and dropped him off.

When my wife returned home, she had received a phone call. You guessed it - the Presbyterian church had called and they now had an opening as well - for three days a week.

She called me - “what should we do?”. Basically, it came down to this - it was our first choice, where we wanted him to be, and, on top of that, it is, all tuition and fees considered, around $10/month cheaper and he goes an extra day each week. So, $10/month cheaper, plus 4-5 extra days per month, plus it’s the program we wanted him in and he also has friends who attend there as well, we thought it was the right call.

My wife called them and informed them before going to pick him up that his first day would also be his last. Evidently, the lady who runs the program was not quite as friendly when my wife picked him up as she was when we dropped him off today, which I can understand, of course. One good thing is that, since they still have people on the waiting list, they’ll most likely fill his spot right away.

And, of course, we both felt pretty bad about making the change, pulling him out after less than a day. Had yesterday not been a holiday, we probably would have heard from them yesterday and been able to make the change without him actually attending a day first. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the way it happened.

So, Thursday we’ll go through it all again - new school, new teachers, new kids Fortunately, that should be the last time.