That’s what I wanted to know last Saturday morning.
I woke up, threw on my clothes grabbed a baseball hat and headed out the door. My destination: Kerrisdale Community Centre. My goal: register my son in “Music Together”.
For those of you who don’t know…
“Music Together is an internationally recognized early childhood music program. Originally offered to the public in 1987, it pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement.”
I was curious; do parents really line up for days to get their kids into certain programs?! So far I hadn’t experienced that kind of craziness.
Upon my arrival at 7:30am, I noticed the parking lot was full. That seemed a little odd. I walked through the doorway of the gym and sure enough there were fifty people standing in a Disneyland-esque line winding through the gym (20 minutes later 75 people). Some brought chairs, some laptops, others blankets but mostly I saw coffee. Damn it all anyways, why hadn’t I brought a cup of the liquid lightening…sigh?
As I sat on the gym floor studying the faces around me, I was happy knowing that I had already secured a spot at St James Community Square for this program. Strange but true, I had a spot but was hoping to cancel it and get a place at the Kerrisdale location.
At 8:00am sharp, everyone was handed a “Timesaver Slip” (a new term for me). On it was a registration time and a number. I was #3 at 10:00. In other words, I would be the 3rd person to register at 10:00am. (Basically, they were telling us to go away and come back later. I’m sure there are fewer irate people as there is the illusion that you are no longer in line but let’s face it, you’re still waiting).
So there I was, still waiting but wandering down the street with a latte in my hand. Walking, window shopping, relaxing with time to myself, no yelling & screaming, no whining, and best of all Daddy was babysitting and giving “the little one” breakfast (for a change). Wait a second… of course, lining up at 7:30am on a Saturday is GREAT!
I returned to the community centre at 10:00am and immediately got the class I wanted with no problems. It was over and done. I was almost sad to go home. So much for my peaceful Saturday morning, it was time to head back to my darling 19 month old boy with the energy of 10 men.
Online registration may be a snap, but this was a good experience for me; almost cathartic I’d say.
P.S. I found out later that the line up also contained people wanting the last 5 spots in a KidsPace class. Some of those people had been in line since 3:00am and did NOT get a spot in the program they wanted, OUCH!! I’m sure those people wouldn’t be as optimistic about the experience as I was.
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