Then I had religion

Recent quotes from Boy Wonder on random topics:

"Mom? Winnie the Pooh is a friendly bear." (Said thoughtfully, as though he is just now realizing this about Pooh. I can't even remember the last time we watched a Pooh movie.)

"Mom? Do ducks go peepee in the grass, or in the water?"

"Mom? Do worms bite?"

"Mom? When I am 30 years old, how old will Action Hero be?"

Boy Wonder is once again having Big Thoughts in the car. (Lots of them seem to be about nature; perhaps, in thirty years or so, he'll build his own little Walden so he can focus on attaining answers.) His thoughts are about to get bigger, though. Because this fall, he'll be starting K4...at the Catholic school down the street.

During recent efforts to find quality daycare for the boys, I wasn't sure whose needs to place first. At four, Boy Wonder is now old enough to know that he's going to a different school, old enough to ask why, and old enough to miss his former caregivers and friends. (And to tell me so. Repeatedly.) On the other hand, he's four; he'll only need full-time, year-round care for at most another year. Action Hero, at just over fifteen months, won't remember much about this time, and he'll be in daycare for at least three more years. He's younger; he needs to be at a center that posts health alerts and communicates effectively with parents. I couldn't decide what to do, and found myself wishing that our school district, which does feature an after-school program, had all-day K4, rather than their current half-day program (which, being just over two hours long, isn't even half a day). Then I remembered my cousin's wife talking about enrolling their son in school, and about how some of the local Catholic schools had all-day K4. And, the next time I drove the boys to their old daycare (the bitey one), I noticed a sign saying, "Now enrolling: K4-8!"

And I called the number, and as I found out more information about the program, it sounded better and better. They have an after-school program as well, and there will probably be just 10 kids in Boy Wonder's class; much better than the two dozen or so that were on the list for Bitey Daycare's summer program. Boy Wonder and I took a tour of the school, and he said that he liked it. He seemed particularly captivated by the music room; all grades have "official" music class, and there's a separate art class once a week as well. Kids in K4 and K5 are assigned "buddies" from the upper grades, who help them with their lunch trays in the cafeteria and sit with them when the school attends Mass together. The principal is nice. It feels like a good place...as does the daycare that Action Hero will be attending once a spot opens up for him.

Of course, as it is a Catholic school, there is tuition; if you're a parish member, that tuition is cut in half. Since parents with children at the school are expected to take said children to Mass weekly, joining the parish seemed rather sensible. And it doesn't seem like a big deal, either. I'm already comfortable with most of the Ten Commandments, although now I'm going to have to work on not taking the Lord's name in vain. Keeping the Sabbath day holy should be fairly easy, especially since Boy Wonder is up by 6AM on weekends. The church is pretty, with a nice open-concept design and lots of stained glass, and the priest materialized beside us to introduce himself as soon as I filled out my sign-up form. He was quite good-natured also, particularly when listening to me explain to Boy Wonder that no, I didn't have any coins, but in any case, that fountain is not the sort that we throw coins into, and those candles are special candles that people pay to light. (Yes, that would be the holy water fount and the prayer candles.)

I'm looking forward to this. Sure, they have uniforms, but those can be purchased at Target these days and consist of navy blue pants and navy or white polos. And Boy Wonder, like Dragon, looks grand in navy blue. He'll get to make Advent chains, learn Christmas carols and all sorts of obscure hymns, and hear interesting stories.

And, last but not least, he'll no doubt come up with some REALLY interesting questions during commutes.