All over New York this week, parents are nervously waiting to hear about school. Nursery school. . .
Getting into nursery school is much like everything else in this city: it is an ordeal. Applying to the schools, where for roughly $5,000 a year 3- and 4-year-olds spend a few hours a day in classrooms that look like toy stores, is a process that tests a parent's stamina and ingenuity. . .
What makes the admissions process even worse is how nursery school takes on a life-and-death importance. To many parents, who would deny this publicly, admission to certain nursery schools looms as the springboard to an Ivy League degree, if not success in adult life. . .
The applications asked all about my husband and myself, and why we were applying to the school. One inquired, "What are your child's special talents and abilities?"
At the age of 2, my child has talents that are yet to be determined.
". . .It is harder to get into our nursery school than it is to get into Harvard."