School Blues

I admit, atat akong magschool si Yuri.

To be completely honest, my reason is not really to boost Yuri's development. That's because, bragging aside, I'm confident in his development. In several blog posts, I gave into mommy pride and talked about his superb language skills. Chos, superb talaga? Actually, hindi naman siguro. Talagang talkative lang ang bata and can communicate flawlessly (talking and listening) for a 2-year old boy.

And I'm happy that despite his walking delays, his motor skills are now great. Most importantly, he's now friendly (unlike before) and interacts with others really well.

So, no, my reason is not Yuri, although I'm certain schooling will do great things for him. To be really honest, it's for me. Perhaps so that I'll meet more people (more moms, actually) and hopefully be less lonely.

I want to homeschool Yuri, and I believe I can, yet the longing to regularly go out and meet new people outweighs it.

But I couldn't say it out loud for fear of being judged as selfish.
Anyway, this isn't meant to be a serious post, so let's shift gears. Okay, since last year, I've been eyeing this particular (real) Montessori preschool 20 minutes away from home. It was love at first sight because I loved the wide grounds and the short but pretty building. I then discovered that it's owned by someone from my church before. Everything sounded great and I was crushing on the school more hardly!

But I didn't know how much the tuition fee costs. As expected, it wasn't on the website. Imagine my excitement when I found out a family friend sends her child to that school! I can finally ask how much the tuition fee is!

Before I proceed, let me tell you that I'm not naming the school simply because I don't think they'd want someone random announcing their tuition fee on the internet.

Finally, we were able to ask her. Can you guess how much the tuition fee costs? Eto lang naman:

70,000 per year.

Toddler school lang yan ha! My goodness gracious. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's even more expensive than Ateneo playschool (Davao). Since it's a real Montessori, I was expecting a big amount; I just didn't expect it to be that big!

In all honesty, I think we could've afforded it had it not been for our decision to take a 5-year mortgage plan rather than a 30-year plan. Because of that, we're paying a bigger amount monthly, which "forces" us to tighten our belts for the next 3-5 years. An additional P7,000 monthly bill would be quite heavy for a couple of young people like us.

And that's not all! Include the transportation costs, food allowance, and - weeell - clothing and shoes budget and that would easily be over 100k. For toddler school! In Davao City of all places, the city of low-cost living! I understand the cost's normal in Metro Manila but not in Davao!

I shared it with my friend, George, whom I know will send her son, Andrei, to whichever school we will send Yuri to. Haha assuming much? Upon knowing the tuition fee, she told me she'd rather send Andrei to a Catholic school. It's my last resort, really.

For some reason, I really really want to send Yuri there. I don't know why; maybe it's kindred spirit? So last night, I shared it with Job. Now, Job is the practical one between us, and while we both plan ahead, I plan ahead for, well, the less urgent things. Like a toddler school. Here's how our conversation went, translated into Tagalog because I love you:

Me: So, dy, naremember mo yung crush kong preschool? Yung doon sa ***? Natanong ko na kina Auntie *** kung magkano tuition.
Job: Oh? Magkano daw?
Me: 70k lang naman. Huhu.
Job: Wow mommy medyo mahal! May iba pa?
Me: Wala na. Actually marami pa pero gusto ko doon.
Job: Okay hanapan natin ng paraan okay? Tutal 2 pa lang naman si Yuri. May 2 years pa.
Me: School na sya next year dy!
Job: 3 years old pa sya next year. Di ba pwedeng pag-4 na?
Me: Try lang natin?
Job: Hehe sige na nga. Pero excited ka masyado. Ganito, hanap ka muna ng ibang schools. Kung wala, hanapan natin ng paraan, okay?

That's actually a very condensed version of the conversation. I had to convince him that we need to discuss schools right then and there, which of course didn't make sense haha.

And yes. I say "huhu" sa text. No judging! Hahaha.

So back to the topic, I'm glad he valiantly assured me that we may send Yuri to that school. But even if
we can afford it, with the 5-year mortgage plan we took, I don't think I'll bite the bullet. After all, I'm not a Kuripot queen for no reason. Not that I'm being kuripot with Yuri's education, but seriously, toddler school or preschool can be much, much cheaper.

Of course I still want to send Yuri to a good school. Any recommendations? I understand it's only July, but unlike Job, I can't wait until December. I need to have options: options, options, options!