Last Friday night, I deposited the kids at my folks' house and drove into the city to meet my husband and some friends at the Landmark Tavern. It was a splendid evening. I caught up with Andrew and Eliza whom I haven't seen in far too long. We all met on the Jacob Javitts playground in Washington Heights when our oldest kids were just toddling around the slides. Some of my favorite people in the world I met at that playground, and I still miss those days.
Sadly, nearly all those friends moved away from the old 'hood in search of better schools for our kids. Andrew and Eliza moved out to Ridgew--. After several months of a fruitless search for an affordable shack in Ridgew--, we ended up in a nearby town with a reputation for good schools and a good commute into Manhattan. The population was more working class and the homes were more modest than Ridgew--, but all assured me that the schools were fine.
At the bar, I talked with Andrew and his new friends. We compared notes about our kids' new interests, how big they had grown, the color of their hair, and what they were doing in school. Andrew's kids were getting much more than mine were. His third grader had nightly writing assignments. The parents were regularly invited into the classroom to work with the kids. My kid can't even get his teacher to check his homework. He has no writing assignments.
I left the bar a little sick. The next day, I set up a meeting with the school principal to discuss curriculum. Steve and I also discussed whether we should sign up Jonah for enrichment classes and whether we should move.
On the one hand, we really like having regular people for neighbors. I like that my kid isn't growing up thinking that all parents are doctors or lawyers. He doesn't have the entitlement and the arrogance of the kids that I grew up with. There are such high expectations for kids in those schools that a number of my high school classmates lost their marbles in college. Every once in a while, I get one of the kids from Andrew's town in my college classes, and they think that they are better than they are. On the other hand, it would nice if my kid learned how to write a proper essay.
I'm going to meet with the principal on Thursday. She's a smart woman, so I'm curious what she'll say.