Managing our School Age Life

Many people think babies are tough….yes you are new to the game and so are they and they don’t sleep and they cry and they poop and you barely have time to shower…..but wait for the school years….as soon as your kids is hitting the preschool things get crazy and you turn into an Event Planner/Agent/Manager/Personal Assistant/Political Advocate and the list goes on.

Your life becomes the life of your children and what you can squeeze in in between.

There are play dates, birthday parties, field trips, theme days and events at school…

There are lunches to plan and prepare, school work and reading that takes up every evening, parent teacher conferences, fundraising and so on.

Let’s also not forget if your child has any special needs or learning issues…then you are researching and fighting and advocating.

Life fits around the school year…..THAT is your schedule. THAT is the calender you work from.

Everything revolves around the school year. Appointments, shopping, social engagements, WORK, everything. Everything has to now fit into the time between 9 and 3 and that isn’t including any baby sized stuff for poor Tara.

And lets not forget the joy of being a working family….when you then have to worry about before and after school care…pick ups and drop off…the cost and so on.

It goes on and on.

So thank goodness for things like The Shorty List…..the site is now live for the Lower Mainland…..and in a time when they are looking at closing down schools, daycare is sparse and expensive..sites like this one are vital. I think it is a great way to help out other families in the same or similar situations….go look….contribute…make it work.

Speaking of school closures…..our little Annex is up for grabs, which SORT of makes sense…there are only 88 children attending and it only goes up to Grade three. When the family population WAS growing around here, the school was a great idea…but now with the area being repopulated by more wealthy older non childrened couples…HOWEVER, the school was also fantastic for the kids who lived DOWN the hill towards Marine Drive.

There is NO bus to take these kids up to the main school…it is almost a two kilometer walk UP a hill to the main school.

I truly feel for the families that have build a community around this lovely little school.

I truly feel for all the communities being affected by these imminent closures. The ripple effect when you close a school is huge and – in my opinion – far surpasses any $ savings that the school board would recoup.

A school board that is being ‘forced’ to make huge cuts like the closures, that will effect the education of many many children abled and special needs, where people line up for French Immersion classes, preschool spots and so on….yet go ahead with a Mandarin Immersion program that I – in my neighbourhood – have heard very little support.

Frankly, Vancouver needs a new school board…this one has been a disaster to our education system. While the Ministry of Education has done little to help sustain the quality we do have….I have to blame mismanagement on the board level over the strong hand of the Government.

The money saved by closing ANY of the schools on the list is a mere drop in the bucket of the budget issues the board is facing. It is also a short term solution.

They are planning a HUGE redevelopment of the Fraser Lands around Marine and Boundary road….schools and community amenities have been promised, but like other Vancouver housing projects, I am not holding my breath…..so that in theory means MORE families moving into the area…more families who will have not choice BUT the annex as the nearest school.

Once again….short term thinking……instead of seeing a larger picture of how to encourage families to live in Vancouver instead of the opposite….overburdening the other areas instead.

Now I have to go and start getting organized to go pick up my kids!