No room at the School.

I am speechless, numb, in total disbelief of what occurred yesterday. In fact, I can't sleep. I have been lying in my bed just going over and over what has happened. So at 2.30 a.m., it's the sofa, my dog, my laptop and I. I have to get this off my chest.

We received an email yesterday from the American International School of Chennai informing us that they would be unable to give our eldest baby mad dog a place for August school year 2008/2009 due to exceptional demand and would we still like her to be kept on the list for 2009/2010?

I am absolutely incandescent with this news .

When Mr Mad dog and I first came out on our Pre-assignment trip in January we visited the school and filled out our application forms there and then, as we knew there was a waiting list at that point. We were told that our eldest daughter, 11 years old, was at that moment in time placed 3rd on the list for March and our second daughter who is now 7 years old was 5th. We were told by the school that if we waited until August we would most certainly get places for the girls.

O.K. we thought. We talked this over with Mr Mad Dog's company and decided not to bring the girls out before this time and wait. Mr Mad Dog accepted to go on a split-assignment for a few months until we came out in July.

Mr Mad Dog started his new job in April in Chennai. He paid another visit to the school to see how things were progressing. This time he was told that our eldest was now 7th on the waiting list and that it was looking dodgy for August. Huh? How can she be 3rd in January, now 7th in April?

They told us wait until May when we will have a clearer picture of what the situation.

So here we are in May and I now have the news that she is now, get this, 9th ON THE LIST!!!!!

What the blazes is going on!!

How can a child slip further down the waiting list not go up it? It does beg the question as to what is going on at this school. They claim to operate a strictly first come, first served basis at the school in order of application and as I said earlier, ours was from January. I don't believe a word of it!

I believe there are more clandestine methods of getting children into this school. As when Mr Mad Dog looked at the list in front of the member of staff at the school our eldest daughter's name was at the top of the list and there were many, many names after hers.

It was a condition we made with the Company that appropriate adequate, decent schooling for our children would have to be available in order for us to accept this posting for 3 years in Chennai. It is well documented that Expat Assignments fail because of the break down in continuity of schooling for Expat families.

To make matters worse we have no schooling now in the U.K. as we have given up our places at the baby mad dog #2 school. The girls finish on the 23rd May. Plus, as baby Mad Dog #1 was transitioning from primary to secondary school we have NO school for her for September start of the 2008/09 academic year. We thought we would be out of the U.K.

We have our flights booked, the house sold to the Company, packers booked, Cat re-homed, dog booked for kennelling, and have completed a 10 week immunization programme for India for the baby Mad Dogs.

I have absolutely NO IDEA what we are going to do. I feel I am staring down a very long dark tunnel with no glimmer of light at the end of it.

So, what are our options? Send her to boarding school? That would break our family up, we are a very close, tight knit sort of family. Although I know it works for some families, we don't come from that tradition. Us in India and our eldest in a boarding school in England? Nope. That won't work.

Home School her? Well we could, in fact we had thought that if we had to wait a few months, say until Christmas '08 then it could be an option. But not long term. Moving her to a Country where we are told that the only real social life that families really get is through the school. No access to extra curricular activities, sports and no opportunities to make friends. Doesn't sound appealing does it?

Stay in the U.K.? That would mean breaking up our family too. Mr Mad Dog out there, myself bringing up 3 children on my own for 3 years, when the youngest is only 3. Plus they all adore their dad. It would kill us.

An impossible situation. I'm in a very dark place today on my sofa, with my dog writing this at 2.30 a.m.