Like many working moms, I’ve always been counting down the days until kindergarden. How long until I no longer have to pay double digit thousands of dollars for childcare? How long until a bus can pick my child up and take her to school and then deliver her back home? Lately, I’m reconsidering. I don’t have anything against it, I am just so in love with the private school that my daughters attend. We love it so much, we are willing to travel 30 minutes each way in rush hour traffic so that they can go there. We are willing to pay the same amount as daycare but with far less coverage (late afternoons, summers).

I’ve known for the past year and a few months that this school was amazing. I’ve known they are part of my village. This past week I’ve only just begun to really know what that means. You see, this past week, I had an impromptu teacher conference – my daughter is having problems in the classroom. This past week I felt my heart breaking. My girl is having a tough time and no one is sure why. And so this week we meet with the head of the school per her request.

When I tell my husband, he instantly worries she’ll be kicked out of school. But I know this school and I know this community. We’re in this together. We’re going to meet to see if we can figure out ways to help her calm herself down, or signals she can give so someone can help her calm herself down. We’re going to see if we can figure out the problem or at least how we can support her. We’re all going to get on the same page. And if it ever came to her leaving this school, it wouldn’t be because she was “kicked out,” it would be because they couldn’t provide her what she needed. We love this school. We love this village. Wish us luck.