Well I have messed up big time in my parenting. The future of my daughter is uncertain because I managed to somehow make a huge mistake.
Here in Wisconsin we have the option to do what is called “open enrollment” if you want to enroll your child in a school that is not in your district. Unfortunately the school district I live in has very few good schools. When it comes to high schools, forget it. Our neighborhood high school has a very bad reputation.
So my oldest son attends a great high school that is out of our district. My youngest son also went into that school district this year for middle school. My daughter really wanted to finish out her middle school years at our local elementary school (which is one of the few good ones) and the plan was to get her into the same high school as my oldest.
You also get what is called “sibling preference,” meaning you are guaranteed a spot if you already have siblings in the school district.
So back in February I filled out the online application, being especially careful (or so I thought) with all of my selections because I didn’t want there to be any problems. By April 9th you were supposed to hear if your child was accepted. I had no worries. But then this weekend we got hit with a bombshell, a letter that said she was denied and was number 16 on the waiting list. I couldn’t see how that was possible.
I had a breakdown moment, crying and allowing fear to overtake me. What was I going to do? There was absolutely no way she was going to attend our neighborhood high school. She was very worried and I’m sure the weekend was wrecked for both of us.
So on Monday morning I called and asked a woman from the district office how it was possible she would be number 16 on a waiting list when she has two siblings in the school district. She indicated that she should have been automatically accepted but when she went on the computer to check out my application, she said I checked “no” for siblings.
I was incredulous. How was that possible? Did I really do that? If I did, it was a terrible mistake and couldn’t they do something about it? She said all the spots were filled. I was ready to start crying again but somehow managed to refrain. She definitely heard the panic in my voice and said that they would see what they can do and I will hopefully hear something in a week.
So the balance of my daughter’s high school years lies in trying to fix a huge mistake that I made. How can I tell her that I apparently really messed up? The high school years are so important and somehow I have managed to do something really stupid. As I blog this, she is still at school and doesn’t know.
What major mistakes have you made as a parent and how did your child react?
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