Education and Priorities: Decisions for the Working Class

Before you are a parent, some decisions are really easy to make. Where will I live? Well, there is a house for sale really cheap right up the road from my grandmother. Done deal. I didn't have to think about the school district since I was in college myself, and not married.

What will I do for a living? Well, I worked really hard to obtain a full time position where I worked, so I had health benefits. Eventually. Ok, it took almost five years. Then I got married, and his health benefits were greater than mine. I did have vacation time, which was crucial since my "weekend" fell on Wednesday and Thursday. Try fitting THAT into the social schedule of the real world! I had to take a vacation day for my wedding!

These seem to pale in comparison to the choices and decisions we have to make now, five and a half years after our wedding. The house I bought, that he moved into, is too far from his job. We are spending a small fortune in gasoline per month.

We have to balance that out with the fact that we live in the country, so to speak. Our kids have apple trees, grave vines, strawberries, the garden, the great ditch out back to "fish" in. They have all the yard they could ever dream of having to romp in. We are far from the city, but close to town, where there is a variety of stores to shop in.

Not to mention the fact that my grandma, bless her heart, is prone to mischief. She forgets her age and forgets that she should not do certain things. I am a mile or so away to say, no, put that down. I will be right there to move it for you. Or hubby and I can haul the major things for her. I know that next summer I will be mowing her grass because she is just reaching that point where it takes too much out of her. She hates to admit it, yes. But she needs our help, and we are the closest to provide it.

The dual edged sword to this idyllic life is our school system. Right now my older son attends preschool. The bus gets him twice a week and brings him home. He is in a class of 15. He socializes, gets a free breakfast and snack. He loves it. It really is more than I could do for him, even as a stay at home mom.