Choices & Sacrifices

Choice means the right, power, or opportunity to choose; option.

Sacrifice means to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.

I've had to make some changes in my life and I wondered did that mean it was a choice or was it a sacrifice. When I began educating my children, I placed them in public schools because I thought they were fine. I went to them, so what could be so bad. I even moved in the neighborhood I grew up in so that they could attend the schools I went to as a child. This was fine for a while. Areas began to re-zone and the make up of the schools were different. Once my eldest got to middle school, I started to notice. He was not doing as well as he should have done. I also noticed there was a lot more peer pressure than I thought there would be at that age. He truly hadn't grown a lot and that became an issue. He was not doing his work and what would aggrevate me was I didn't find out until it was close to report card. So by the time he was entering the 8th grade we took him out of public schools and put him into private school. Now, don't get me wrong, he still had his own faults which I still had to deal with but in the setting he was in when he did get lazy, we were notified right away. He also had to deal with being the new kid in an environment where most of these kids have been together since kindergarten. That was hard but I still believe the right choice was made. The following year all of my children were in private school and that is where the sacrifice came. It was hard financially and I have had to give up a lot because of it. I have lost a lot also and I hear the naysayers tell me different things like, there is no way I would pay more for my child's education than I pay for my car. I said your car means more to you than your child. They get stumbled and try to correct that but I got it. Then I have heard, why put that money into private school when you have to pay for college. I say, why put away money for college? If your child is not getting what they need in high school, they definitely will not be going to college. I can argue that point until I am blue in the face but I leave it at to each his own and until you walk down that rode then don't try to argue it. I can say this since I have made this choice, my children are being exposed to so much more than they would have gotten otherwise (creative thinking competitions, dance classes, etc.) I make sure they know they were not born with the right to attend private schools (meaning we are not rich) and their being there is due to sacrifices made by their parents. I hope my children will one day see it that I was trying to do this because I care about their future more than I care about a house, a car or clothes.