…And we haven’t even started preschool yet.  Being a dad, I always want to make the best decision for my son and I want the best for my son.  When it comes to entering school I want to give my son the best chance to succeed, that means picking the best school.  Unfortunately, it looks like it also means the most expensive school.

My wife and I are on different pages when it comes to picking a school for Squirt.  She wants him to go to a school which is small and caters only to very young kids.  Equivalent to what you would call preschool through 2nd grade in U.S. standards.  My first perception of this school when I visited it the other day was that it was more of a day care than a school.  The kids didn’t seem to be doing anything and they were just being “watched” as opposed to some type of craft, reading time, activity, etc.  Of course, I may have just showed up at the wrong time to see more of what they offered.  The most appealing thing to my wife is that it will not cost us a fortune to send Squirt to this school and it’s where our daughter went 10 years ago.

On the other hand, the schools I prefer are full elementary schools, the U.S. equivalent of preschool to 6th grade.  The two schools I’m considering are quite a bit more expensive but when I visited them I caught a glimpse of different classes (with kids about Squirt’s age) actively being taught by a teacher in front of the class and even one class in the middle of P.E.  Squirt liked watching that class from the Principal's office window and mimicking the stretches the kids were doing.  Problem is, my wife is not on board with me when I mentioned the prices of these schools, actually, no one I’ve talked to has agreed with me sending my son to one of these schools.

I’ve already turned down an enrollment for Squirt at the most expensive, and probably the best, school and I was only able to get him on a waiting list at my 2nd school of choice so there is a possibility we may not even get in.  Everyone is telling me that I don’t need to spend so much on school and Squirt is a smart boy so he will do great at any school.  That may be true and only time will tell, but is it so bad that I want him to get the best education we are able to get him?  While the schools I prefer will put a strain on our budget I believe we can swing it.  School doesn’t start for another few months so I’ll be stressing about it til then.

At three years old my son still depends on me for a lot of things–fixing his bike, tying his shoes, wiping his boogers off his face, accompanying him to the bathroom.  Wait, scratch that last one.

His usual morning routine consists of a morning piss and a morning dump, often at separate times.  He just lets me know when he has to “go” then he waits for me to get up and take him to the bathroom.  I guess today something clicked and he realized he can do this on his own.  Here’s what went down today after he woke up and was ready to “go”.

Squirt:  “Dad, I have to go pee-pee!”

Me:  “Okay, let’s go.”

Squirt:  “NO, don’t follow me.”

He stops me dead in my tracks by straight arming me with both arms.

Me:  “But I need to help you.”

Squirt:  “NOOO, don’t follow me.”

He straight arms me again.

Me:  “But.”

Squirt:  (almost angry now) “DON’T FOLLOW ME.”

Me:  “Well, let me open the door for you.”

Squirt:  “Don’t follow me dad.”

He points a stern finger at me and holds his stare to see if I will challenge him again.

Me:  “Fine, go then.”

He turns, runs down the hallway, opens my bedroom door and closes it behind him.  I hear the door to our master bath open and then immediately close again.  I give him a minute or two then I see him emerge from my bedroom and close the door behind him.  He comes running back down the hallway with a smile on his face and goes straight for his bicycle.

Me:  “Did you wash your hands?”

Squirt:  “Yes dad.”

I love mornings with my son.

I bought this old '81 Suburban a few years ago with dreams of restoring it.  Unfortunately, the money never turned up to do some real work on it.  It's been converted from gasoline to run on butane.  My dad is the only one that uses it these days to drive to his farm, he loves it and refuses to sell it.  It doesn't have any A/C, the rear glass is missing and the body has quite a bit of rust now but he has kept it running and it works just fine for him.

This is my old skateboard, it's over a decade old.  The last few years it's been tossed around in our storage but it looks like it's found a new life with Squirt.  That skateboard defined me for a number of years and it's a sport I am still interested in to this day.  Can't wait to see Squirt practicing his ollie and pass on some pointers to him, I think I can still pull off a few tricks.  Many memories in that board, glad I kept it all these years.  (I know the photo sucks)