Computer says no

Temp +7, north wind, sunny, blue skies. Full moon.

I'll start with the good news, today was my favourite kind of day, sparkly, fresh, sweet cool air, clear bright light, you could see every rock and crag on Dalsnuten and Lifjellet. It was like waking from a long deep wonderful sleep. We probably didn't do it justice (sometimes there is the fear that it might rain and be grey again for the next 2 months and that was it!) by going to Kvadrat   (shopping centre) but we had errands to run and had a lovely time meeting friends.

The light is unforgiving in some respects in that it highlighted every speck of dust, every new scratch on our dark parquet floor and it gave me the opportunity to inspect the damage done to our veranda over the long winter. But none of these things bothered me - it was too nice a day.

The bad news came in a slim white envelope from Stavanger Kommune this afternoon. It read that we had not got a place at Barnehage for Naomi from August.

The way that you apply for barnehage here is extremely fair, there is one deadline a year, you apply, they draw your names out of a hat and the rest go on a waiting list. The fee's are capped so that it is affordable for all. It is so fair that it is so oversubscribed that there are not enough places, despite the promise of a place for all (it is a strongly fought over political issue). Added to this there are priority cases, for siblings, for special needs and for children who have a mother tongue that is not Norwegian (and as of this year English too). Ironically, we could have had a place for Naomi when she was a year old at the barnehage of our choosing- as she was diagnosed as having Cerebral Palsy, thereby qualifying for a priority place. On top of that she could have had special help and financial support. We did not choose that route at the time, and as it turned out our prayers were answered and she made an incredible 'recovery' and the specialists reversed their diagnosis. That is another story. I was hoping that we could use the language card on this occasion but they have changed the rules and having English mother tongue no longer qualifies for priority. So we were in the pot the same as everyone else. I can't help but think of all the families all over Stavanger who are holding their letter and either breathing a sigh of relief or wondering, as I am, what now??

In a way, for us, we will continue as we are. I don't have a job that is asking me when I am coming back and I love our little life. I guess I just wanted it for Naomi, for her to have a place to really learn Norwegian and a place to go without me (not that I have asked her). We live just around the corner from the British School of Stavanger- which has an excellent pre-school. We have friends there. We have always resisted the urge to put Naomi there. It is not going to help her to learn the language, it is not going to help her make local friends who will follow her to school. It will be more tempting to want to send her to school there and then we are talking fee's and a very different life. So we shall see. I feel quite excited actually, because I trust there is a 'plan'. Our prayers were answered regarding the CP, and I have been praying about barnehage for at least 2 years, I know there is a plan unfolding here.