Preschool or Not

We have quite a dilemma. I got a call the other day from the preschool that Jonathon went to a few years ago. They had some cancellations and Hannah got in to their coveted preschool program. As I thanked the friendly voice on the phone and hung up the panic set in. How are we to pay for it now that Philip's job cut his pay? Some may say so.. wait another year or she doesn't need preschool or school her at home.
Let me introduce you to Hannah Rose Garrett. She needs the social interaction of a school setting. She would thrive in it. She is an intelligent little stinker and is so bored with the limited activities I have been giving her that I'm afraid I'll go crazy.
I'll give a few examples. The other day she did an art project on my recliner. If you can imagine how much ink a new Sharpie has in it.. well let's just say my recliner is now a bright blue.. permanent blue! This child has deleted files on our hard drive.. she knows how to use the copy machine and she copied off almost a whole ream of paper before the printer ran out of ink. Oh and the copies were of her favorite projects in the Finch Family Activities Book.
She has replanted my onion bulbs into another square in my garden, put a swimsuit on the dog, fed the dog a box of dry macaroni, stole my muffin tray and I still can't find it. I also had to convince the bank that the check I was trying to deposit was valid even though it was signed several times by a three year old.
Okay enough. Hannah is a spirited child and she is also very sweet and loving. She'll sing me a song when she thinks I'm sad and she'll rub my back when she's showing affection.
So back to the preschool thing. We can't afford it. I'm just cringing inside. I really wanted her to have this great opportunity to go to school. I'm also convinced that these days in order to have a good Kindergarten experience you need to have gone to preschool.
I read an article in this months Ensign about how to stretch your budget. It reads "With time and dedication, a mother can give her children a rich preschool experience. Consult the Internet for ideas, and use your local library." June 2009
So there's the dilemma. I'm still praying every night that my mind and my heart will feel comfort in the right decision for us.
Let's just hope mother and daughter both survive the next two years unscathed.