Much Ado About Nothing

Somehow I constantly have a feeling of "much ado about nothing". When it comes to deciding whether to send him to daycare at age two, I went back and forth. First, I thought that he had to get some social skills so he ought to go. Then he started getting sick so often that I thought that it was a bad idea. Then at his two year pediatrician's appointment, I was told that he should go to daycare since he is kind of on the anti-social side. Then I heard from others that perhaps at his age being antisocial was the norm as opposed to the exception. Then I heard that two years old was the right time to build immunity. Then I heard that perhaps at age 3 or 4 would be just as fine. I could live with uncertainty and ambiguity in business, but somehow I kept wanting to have the "right" answer to whether or not I ought to start him in daycare.

And if he should start daycare, where should I send him? A Bi-lingual one so that he can have an easier transition? - well, I tried one for two months and he got sick so often and I started questioning the hygiene practice there. In addition, it takes almost 20 minutes to drive there. How about another bi-lingual Montessori school? Well, there is one not far from home, but the director seems really harsh, and the facility seems a bit shabby. How about a play-based preschool with an academic component? That seems fine, although the yard is a bit small and the teacher to kids ratio might not be ideal. But perhaps that one would do. So I signed up for it and was ready to start Winston there on July 5, when I suddenly got a notice from Stanford that Winston got a spot at the daycare center close to our home. In fact, it is within walk-in distance.

That was the first daycare center I visited, and I recall my disappointment comparing it to my own kindergarten in China. Since then I have visited quite a few. When I got the notice that Winston got a spot, I decided to pay another visit. What a surprise! I now found this place the best of all! So naturally I decided to enroll Winston there. He's been there for a week. So far he's been fine, although he is already coming down with another cold, and it is July (not December)!

So there - much ado about nothing. Had I just gone by the original plan of sending him to Stanford daycare at age two, I would have saved myself so much trouble. Yet on the other hand, is it possible that sometimes we have to go the long way to figure out something because this way we can be sure about it being the right path forward? Certainly in business we often have to do that - even if we are sure about something, we sometimes have to let people try an alternative idea first so that they can come to the same conclusion themselves. Such is human nature perhaps. And therefore often what we do in life feels like "much ado about nothing".