Felicitations Mademoiselle Bradyn

The ridiculously long process of kindergarten registration is finally over..... we received Bradyn's acceptance letter today for the French Immersion program. For those of you who have been privy to our ongoing drama, no need to read any further because you know now how it ends. To the rest of you, let me share...

After the chaos known as Christmas was over, I knew I had to start paying attention to the kindergarten registration process. Registration was to take place February 8, 9 and 10. We were considering a few different options, so I wanted to be sure that we attended the information sessions the week of January 17, allowing us to make an informed decision. Let me guess - at this point some of you are thinking 'what decision?'. When I went to kindergarten, the only decision to make was Catholic school or public school? Seeing as how we aren't Catholic, there really wasn't a decision to make.

Fast forward 35 years and a move to the Tri-Cities area of beautiful BC. For the September 2011 kindergarten class, we had 4 options: Mandarin bilingual; French Immersion; Montessori and good old main-stream kindergarten. 'Regular' kindergarten was good enough for me, so I figured that's what Bradyn would do. Kevin, however, participated in the French Immersion program all the way through to Grade 12 and wanted to look at all the options for Bradyn. We both felt that Bradyn would benefit from having some 'enhancements' to her learning because like all parents, we think our child is brilliant. :-)

We are very lucky to have a Mandarin Bilingual program option in our city. September 2011 will be the second year for the program and, although I was totally against it in the beginning, Kevin brought me on board and we were both very excited about the prospect of our little blonde haired, blue eyed little girl speaking Mandarin. The down-side was that she would have to attend a different daycare for before & after school care, so we went and checked into 2 places that had openings. Unfortunately, the placements for the Mandarin Bilingual program were determined by a lottery and, on January 28th, we were advised that Bradyn's name was drawn #65 for 40 spots (if I remember correctly, there were 78 applicants in total). Kevin was devastated, but Bradyn decided it was OK - she wanted to learn French, and she was going to teach me. (I didn't do French immersion, but I did take it through to Grade 13. Yes Kevin, Grade 13 was real when I was in highschool.)

At the same time we entered Bradyn into the lottery for Mandarin, we also put her in the lottery for the Montessori program at the school on our street. I would have loved to have my school on my street when I was a kid! Wouldn't you know it, she got accepted. Unfortunately, we had to make a decision before the registration for French Immersion on February 8th. Since Montessori was our Choice #3, we held our breath, declined the spot and hoped like crazy that the French Immersion registration worked out.

At 4:30 AM on February 8th, Kevin lined up at the school in our catchment area that offers French Immersion. Yes, you read it correctly: 4:30 AM. I love Bradyn with all my heart but I have to be honest - I wouldn't have done it. Once again, Kevin proved what an amazing dad he is. Registration was to start at 8:30 am but entry into French Immersion at this school is extrememly competitive and if you don't live in the catchment area, you cannot apply. Even being in the catchment area doesn't guarantee you'll get a spot. The mom of one of Bradyn's friends actually got there at 11:30 pm the night before and camped out overnight - she only ended up 4 spots ahead of Kevin! I dropped Bradyn off at daycare at 7:15 am and went to relieve Kevin in line. By that time the school had let the parents into the gym to warm up and Kevin decided to stick it out to the end. We registered her together - spot #39 of the available 40! (Rumour had it that 20 of those spots were being saved for siblings of children already in the program.) We made it in by the skin of our teeth but they wouldn't confirm that Bradyn was accepted. They wanted to complete the full registration process before officially accepting anyone, to ensure that no mistakes were made. We were told we'd hear in 2 weeks, then by March 1st, then by spring break. Thankfully, our wait ended today when I picked up the mail.

So, in the end, Bradyn will get to stay at her current daycare for before & after school care, ride Ms Jennifer's bus to and from school AND get to be with her friend Diana again (Diana won't be at the French Immersion school, but she will be in Badyn's before & after school class). Let me tell you, our little Miss Bradyn is VERY excited.

Once again, Kevin's 'Spidy Senses' proved to be reliable, and Sherri's constant advice that "It all works out in the end" was right again. I think I'll go to bed now and get a good night's rest... Finally.