Ahhhh, crap.
Ahhhh.... crap.
Here's the thing. I grew up in a very, very small town. Scenic. Lovely. Quaint. New England. Farm. Cows. Horses. That's Granby.
Small classes, great schools. All of it. Most of the town were working class folks. Our fathers were mostly factory workers and our moms stayed home or worked part time. Homes were your basic ranches, capes and colonials. Typical New England fare. Large yards usually at least an acre and up to 10 and 20 acres. It was a dairy farm town back in the day.
When Aaron and I decided to buy a home Granby was not even in the realm of reality for us. The home that my parent's bought for $11, 000 was valued at over $180,000. For a two bedroom ranch. Not that they're moving, but you get the picture. The homes that were 3 bedrooms and near the $200,000 price were fixer-uppers. Can you imagine? The housing boon hit Granby hard and the homes were on average well over $300,000.
So, we bought in Springfield. A city. With a crime problem and school problems and corruption and traffic and gangs and violence. Yay for us right? We found this great little neighborhood that is home to working class folk and retired folk. Families. Pretty quiet for Springfield actually. And we're right near a college. In fact, the house next to ours is part of the campus. The house itself was perfect for us. Small but completely renovated. Fenced yard. Good stuff. For $109,000. Perfect!
We moved in thinking we could use school choice for our boys. The girls go to Granby schools because their dad lives there. I had every intention of sending Seth and JP to Granby too.
Here's the "Oh Crap" part:
School choice sucks. The kids will come home from Granby and have no friends in their hometown. Every time we have a play, a sports event or drama club or band or whatever else they want to try we will be driving 30 minutes each way. Granby doesn't like Springfield, so their friends' parents won't want to drive to our house. Trust me, I'm going through this with the girls now. This creates bad feelings about where they are from.
This brings me to.... if we're going to stay in Springfield then I need to get off my arse and get involved. If this is to be our hometown then I have some work to do. You can't just move into a city and complain and then leave. Well, I can't. And I need to really commit to this. I'm like that. I can never sit back and let others do things. I always have to jump right in and do things I don't have the time or energy for.
If you want something done ask a busy person. The saying is true.
So, I have this decision to make. If we stay then I'm rolling up my sleeves. I think I'm heading in this direction. I just volunteered to help the Guardian Angels set up camp in Springfield. My first meeting is next week.
Ah, crap. What am I getting myself into now?!
Here's the thing. I grew up in a very, very small town. Scenic. Lovely. Quaint. New England. Farm. Cows. Horses. That's Granby.
Small classes, great schools. All of it. Most of the town were working class folks. Our fathers were mostly factory workers and our moms stayed home or worked part time. Homes were your basic ranches, capes and colonials. Typical New England fare. Large yards usually at least an acre and up to 10 and 20 acres. It was a dairy farm town back in the day.
When Aaron and I decided to buy a home Granby was not even in the realm of reality for us. The home that my parent's bought for $11, 000 was valued at over $180,000. For a two bedroom ranch. Not that they're moving, but you get the picture. The homes that were 3 bedrooms and near the $200,000 price were fixer-uppers. Can you imagine? The housing boon hit Granby hard and the homes were on average well over $300,000.
So, we bought in Springfield. A city. With a crime problem and school problems and corruption and traffic and gangs and violence. Yay for us right? We found this great little neighborhood that is home to working class folk and retired folk. Families. Pretty quiet for Springfield actually. And we're right near a college. In fact, the house next to ours is part of the campus. The house itself was perfect for us. Small but completely renovated. Fenced yard. Good stuff. For $109,000. Perfect!
We moved in thinking we could use school choice for our boys. The girls go to Granby schools because their dad lives there. I had every intention of sending Seth and JP to Granby too.
Here's the "Oh Crap" part:
School choice sucks. The kids will come home from Granby and have no friends in their hometown. Every time we have a play, a sports event or drama club or band or whatever else they want to try we will be driving 30 minutes each way. Granby doesn't like Springfield, so their friends' parents won't want to drive to our house. Trust me, I'm going through this with the girls now. This creates bad feelings about where they are from.
This brings me to.... if we're going to stay in Springfield then I need to get off my arse and get involved. If this is to be our hometown then I have some work to do. You can't just move into a city and complain and then leave. Well, I can't. And I need to really commit to this. I'm like that. I can never sit back and let others do things. I always have to jump right in and do things I don't have the time or energy for.
If you want something done ask a busy person. The saying is true.
So, I have this decision to make. If we stay then I'm rolling up my sleeves. I think I'm heading in this direction. I just volunteered to help the Guardian Angels set up camp in Springfield. My first meeting is next week.
Ah, crap. What am I getting myself into now?!
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school choice is great, but yes you will be great at SPEAKING YOUR MIND IN SPRINGFIELD SCHOOLS!!!!
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