Week 22

Somehow this was the only belly photo we ended up with this week. Oh well! The baby is getting stronger and stronger - Sean has taken to calling her Belly Ninja.

This week, Sean and I watched Nursery University, which is a rather frightening documentary on the process (more like trauma) of applying for private pre-schools in NYC. We haven't really thought about how we want to approach the whole school thing, but we definitely can't afford $20k for pre-schools, and I'm not sure that my mental health would survive the whole application process anyway. I don't know if we'll still be in NYC by the time she's pre-school age, but if we are, I wonder what affordable, quality options there are in NYC?

I don't know what it's like in other cities around the USA, but in NYC it seems like there is this hype built up around the what nursery school your kid goes to - almost as if your kid doesn't get into the right pre-school, that therefore means that she won't get into a good college and life will spiral downwards from there. I'm exaggerating, but only a little. I totally believe in giving my child a good education, but is it really necessary for kids to go to the best pre-schools (or even go to pre-school, period?)? Or does it work just as well for a parent to read to their child, teach them their ABCs, make art projects with them, and get them together with other kids? I'd love to hear from any parents who have actually been through the process here in NYC (or in other major cities) - what do you think? Maybe I'm just a newbie parent making naive assumptions? I'd love to look three years into the future to see what my future self thinks.