Good News - Excited, Nervous, etc, Kids starting Day School

[ImaGeek]

So...first the great news...

We met with the Rebbe of our Orthodox Day School and we are working through the application process. He is excited to have our kids in the school and this is a very important step for our family. (Conversion candidates must have their kids in Orthodox day schools and you must do this before you can complete your conversion, so this is a big deal on a lot of levels for us!)

And yet...I find myself nervous, anxious, excited...

Our kids already know most of the kids they'll be in school with. They already know most of the teachers. They're familiar with the school itself. We've been working with a Hebrew tutor for months and plan on stepping that up over the summer to help make the transition easier, particularly for our oldest, who is 8. We've discussed the kids needs with the principal, so he's aware that they are both in gifted classes and need to be challenged. Given the small class sizes, he thinks it won't be a problem.

So...why am I so nervous?

Is it the cost? It is a challenge, but if we budget, given our incomes, we should be able to afford full tuition for both. Is it the unknown? Right now, they are both in a good school and would have been going into a rigorous academic program there. Am I nervous because I worry about their future education with half their days spent in Hebrew and Torah? Am I nervous that the Rabbis will change their minds again and the kids will end up not only not going to the day school, but also not getting back into their current school, which is a charter school? Am I nervous because now everything seems so much more "real?"



I'm not sure. This is something we've been hoping and praying for for so long and I guess I'm just not reacting the way I expected I would. Still, the excitement is there, just mixed with this fear.

Thoughts? Ideas?

[Chavelamomela]

We often time antiicipate the next stage, and look forward to it, and when it actually happens, we then get nervous too! So your worries/anxieties/anxiousness/excitement sound completely normal to me!

Sure, you've wanted your kids in Yeshiva for a long time, but now that it's actually going to happen, it seems like a huge step, and one that will change your family (hopefully, for the better!)

So yes, all your feelings are normal.

And I can't help but be excited for you! How wonderful!!!

[ImaGeek]

A friend had some great ideas. One of them was to ask the school if they could give some assurance that, no matter what twists and turns our conversion process takes (and all conversion processes are full of them!), that our kids will be able to finish the year out and not have to change schools mid-year on the whim of the Beis Din or Rabbis. I'm not sure we'll get that assurance, but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask.

I think I need to just take a deep breath and let go and trust Hashem on this one. This is a leap of faith for our family and if the ground isn't there on the other side...we'll deal with it the same way we do anything else unexpected. We should do what we can to reduce the risk, but at the same time...there's no use in anticipating every bad thing that can come along.

I also think I need to step back and think about all the reasons I've wanted this for so long and enjoy the fact that it is happening. My children will spend half their day learning Torah and will quickly surpass me in learning. This is the first step toward watching my son one day, B"H, actually stand up on the bima and read from the Torah himself. Words can't describe how that idea makes me feel.

I think you're right, too...having the kids there will change our family as a whole. We'll learn from them. Our lives will constantly be re-oriented in good ways. I also think we'll be more fully integrated into the community.

I think it is just nervousness at such a big change, but you're right...the more I let go of worrying about what could happen, the more happy and excited I am about what IS happening.

Now...to research bean recipes so we can afford it.