The biggest racket of all

Every day can't be a ten. Today rated probably a two. Yup - we had one of those days.

It started with Maisie crying because I got Hudson out of bed first. She was actually the cheerful one. Hudson is getting his two-year-old molars and was just out of sorts the whole darn day. Today may have been his hardest day in life yet! The most cheerful person on the planet had his first GIANT public meltdown. He screamed leaving a playground and continued to scream for the first 20 minutes of lunch. The whole thing lasted close to 45 minutes. Other mothers were shaking their head in knowing pity. One woman asked me if I needed help. Oh rah. Welcome to two, mama!

Maisie was crying at the same time about something totally different. She wanted a Barbie. Instead of buying one for her, we went in search of stuff to make a lemonade stand while Hudson napped in the stroller. If she wants a Barbie, she needs to earn it. The next sunny afternoon, we'll be out there hawking our concoction putting the earnings towards a new toy.

It poured all morning and much of the afternoon. It wasn't just raining cats and dogs. I'm pretty sure I saw an elephant or two fall from the sky. I am in Asia after all. What in the world is the rainy season like? How do you get your kids to school in rain like this? I'm going to need to take a cab to get the kids to school. Taxis are really cheap. You can either flag them down or, for a nominal fee, I can call one five minutes before I need it. Wahoo! The problem is they simply disappear when it rains. They don't even answer the phone when it rains. I'm serious when I saw I don't know what I'll do when it rains and the kids are supposed to be in school.

Speaking of schools, I spent my entire, rainy morning reaching out to admissions offices. The kids watched movies and did some art while I tried to schedule tours of various campuses. Maisie, by the way, is writing her name by herself. You go, girl! Hudson says, "I try. I try," and scratches around with the pen though he does consistently seem to make an H and is starting to recognize letters. Yup, he's a stud, that barely-two-year-old boy of mine!

Schools here are supposed to be the best in the world. I'm not sure what study declared that, but that's what everybody says. The admissions process is a real money-making racket if you ask me. There are a few really good ones: Singapore American School, One World College, Stamford American, Dover, Eton House where kids attend from pre-K through 12th grade. Some even give a IB degree. Each has a serious waiting list. Some waits are rumored to be three years long! Even the second tiered schools have wait lists.

Here's how it works: you apply and submit an application and non-refundable fee. Some of the fees are pretty steep, too. When they contact you that there's an opening, you have to pay within a week or else you lose your spot and your application fee. They seriously expect you to jerk your kids out of whatever school they're in all for the chance to go to one of the biggies. To do so, generally means losing money at the current school. It's insane!

Naturally, I want to SEE the schools before we shell out wait list money, but get this: One World College is so snooty that it won't even schedule an appointment because the wait list is so full. If you want to go there, you have to just get on the wait list and trust that you'll like it once you finally get to see it. Are you kidding me?! 

Complicating matters is Maisie's Sensory Integration Disorder. In the States, she is classified as a special needs kid and receives a whole host of therapies all free through the school district. Our district is very wealthy so she gets a lot of therapy that she might not get in a district with fewer funds. She's a borderline case at this point and will probably test out of all therapy by next year.

Here, her special needs could actually keep her out of the best schools. There's no such thing as discrimination or equal rights here. Our neighbor Dan teaches at One World College and said the Vice Principal had to leave the school because it wouldn't take his own special needs son!

So I'm in a tricky situation. I want to make sure she has the therapy she needs, BUT by the time she's at the end of the wait list, she very possible she won't need therapy any more. I think the solution is not to breathe a word to anybody about her disorder and hope that by the time she makes it into a top school, she'll be totally mainstream.

To that end, I also set up an appointment to have her evaluated here by the Singapore child development people. When Hudson got his Hep A vaccine here, I talked to the pediatrician about Masie and that's what she suggested. Who knows? Maybe here they won't see any deficiencies at all. She's being re-evaluated at home when we get back, too. Her speech seems to be on track. My only concern? Her sensory needs are still pretty intense, but they're definitely getting better. 

Fact finding - that's why I'm here. A giant consideration with this whole move is whether or not Maisie can get the education she needs here. I guess I'll know more in a few weeks.