Schooling Decision

So after many months of deliberation and research, we have decided to not start out homeschooling. We are going to send Natalie to the local public school for Kindergarten when it's time. This decision was made based on many factors:

• One of my major worries has been how social my daughter is, and wanting to nurture the development of relationships with all types of people. I *loved* seeing all my friends during the day and regularly got in trouble for talking too much. :) I made some wonderful friends at school, and want Natalie to have that opportunity, too. We have a couple great homeschooling groups in town, but it's never felt the same to me.
• My other major sticking point has been the tradition of school. This sounds silly, but I loved getting ready to go back to school - the new clothes, buying the supplies, finding out who the teachers would be, etc. And as a parent, I want that tradition for me too - like I said, I know it's kind of silly, but it's been something that has bothered me about homeschooling. We cannot recreate all that at home - there would be no PTA, no grand new adventure of being shipped off to school that first day to learn new things and have new experiences, none of the "going to school" excitement.
• B and I also have talked about what a difference parents make in the school system. We will be super involved in Nat's education and make sure that she is getting everything she needs. We will know all her teachers, I will be volunteering everywhere I can - we will be SUPER involved parents. :)

I feel like a huge load has been lifted since we made this decision. I like our decision and I feel good about it. This means that since Kindergarten is 8-2 here, I would also like to do preschool next year (when Natalie is 4) for a few hours a couple days a week. I don't want to suddenly throw her into a 6-hour day away from home with no practice.

So, I guess I'm going all mainstream on the education front. :) I'm looking forward to it, though!

Next big decision -- VBAC vs. c-section?? So many decisions to be made as a parent!