Parenting Question
Pumpkinhead is currently attending a very expensive local Montessori. We got three e-mails from them earlier this week. The first informed us that the annual “supply fee” is going up by $120! Nope, that’s not a typo. So instead of owing $400 in January, we now owe $520. 
Then the second e-mail informed us that we have to pay an extra “supply fee” for the week between Christmas and New Years ($30). Okay… The third e-mail tells us that Pumpkinhead’s class is going to be in the school holiday concert on the 17th, that Pumpkinhead’s going to be a bumblebee, and that I’m responsible for purchasing him yellow fleece sweatpants and a sweatshirt (do you have any idea how freaking hard it is to find plain YELLOW sweats?!?). And of course I can’t go (if work wouldn’t let me leave even 5 minutes early for an exam, they sure as hell aren’t going to let me leave early for this 4 p.m. concert!), but I ask my mother and she promises to attend, video camera in hand. Okay, so my blood pressure is up at this point but I’m still handling it all.
Then I drop Pumpkinhead off this morning. I’m walking in the door and I see a sign on the front door that says, “Tickets for Holiday Show - $10). They have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!! 
Not only do I have to pay $520 a year for “supplies”, plus $75/mo. extra in the summer, plus $30 extra the week after Christmas, but now they want me to take time away from exams to hunt down an impossible-to-find sweatsuit AND pay for the privilege of seeing my little bumblebee sing for two minutes?!?! No freaking way!
So my question, to get to the point, is do you think it would be wrong of me to put him in the backup daycare near my work that day and just not let him participate in the show? He might be bummed, but he is four and quite frankly the cost/benefit analysis is really coming out against him. They’re done at 12 that day anyway so I’d be scrambling for childcare. Should I tell his teacher he won’t be there or why or would you just call in and say he’s sick?
December 7th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I would let his teacher now that he would not be attending due to scheduling conflicts. Maybe next year, it’s worth the money or added stress.
I have a four year old and all he cares about is playing and having fun. I’m the back up daycare can handle that.
M
December 7th, 2007 at 11:14 am
No-brainer for me. But then I always was a mean mama.
Do the backup daycare. Be low-key with Pumpkinhead about it, and he probably won’t even notice. But if he seems bothered, let him do something else that’s equally special and free or cheap — like a trip to a park or having a friend stay overnight.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
He actually LOVES the backup daycare and begs to go to “Mommy’s work school.” LOL! I think I’m going to make it a treat for him and plan lunch together and maybe something fun after work to take the sting out of missing the concert. I’m not going to tell him, though, because he will sooooo rat me out to the teacher! Not sure what to tell the teacher. The director is a serious guilt-monger. Don’t even get me started on all the fundraisers we have to do!!!!
December 7th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I would do the backup daycare, but I would also definitely tell them why he wasn’t going to be there. $10 for tickets to a preschooler’s holiday show?! There is NO way I would pay that…or any amount…for what amounts to a school recital. (Keep in mind that my kids go to public school, so school concerts and shows are free, with a few exceptions [plays, musicals, talent show fundraiser, etc.]!)
December 13th, 2007 at 5:06 am
Yeah, skip it if that feels right (I would!!) but absolutely tell the school waht you think. They’re gouging you. I think sometimes they forget how much we pay and also how hard it is to have unexpected costs sprung on us in random amounts at random times.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
That’s a good point, Citations. I think I will talk to then. I just couldn’t handle it during exams.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:03 am
[…] was Pumpkinhead’s school skip day. He had a blast at the backup daycare and I took him for a fun lunch at some nearby shops. We hit […]