When our family moved to Natchez 12 years ago I can remember being astounded at the number of people who had children at more than one school.

I thought to myself, even if this is a much smaller city than Jackson I’m not running all over the place; my kids can go to one school.

Of course that would mean the school their dad and I picked out for them.

After all we were the all-knowing, all-seeing PARENTS.

Naturally you know what has happened. This year we have a student at Trinity and two students still a Cathedral.

In my wallet is a card for an athletic association and a booster club, and we have decided to put a &uot;T&uot; and a &uot;C&uot; on each vehicle.

Thank goodness Matthew’s Cathedral junior-high football games are on Monday nights, Holly cheers at Trinity High games on Friday night and Emily is used to being dragged from one place to another anyway.

At first people asked us &uot;What was wrong with Cathedral?&uot; then they asked, &uot;Why aren’t you moving all three?&uot;

So I’m going to answer both of these and let you in on something David and I learned the hard way.

First, we love Cathedral. The sense of family there has been great for all of my family, but it just wasn’t the place for our oldest child.

Second, Trinity High School has been a second home to my family for several years, for a couple of reasons. And while Holly is very happy to be there, it isn’t the place right now for my other two.

Now, for the lesson(s) we have learned. The first one is easy. Never, never, never say what you will not do, because of course you will end up doing it and looking foolish.

Next, sometimes you have to put aside your feelings as a parent and listen to your child. And I don’t mean just to their words. I mean you have to notice their every move and especially the things they don’t say.

You have to accept the fact that you have taught your child well and at some point they can make a responsible decision.

And you have to close your ears to everyone else, block out their thoughts and opinions and do what your gut feeling as a parent tells you is the best thing for you child.

This weekend I took my Daytimer and marked Matthew and Emily’s schedule in green, then I marked Holly’s in red. It looked like Christmas in there with all the overlapping red and green.

Monday I picked up Emily from Rah-Rah camp at Cathedral. She told me how much fun she had with her friends and how cool it was that she had homework from her new favorite teacher, Mrs. Callaway.

Then I went up the hill and picked up Matthew from junior-high football practice, where despite the fact that I tell him he smells like a little goat, he is having so much fun he can hardly stand it.

Monday evening we went to Trinity School to &uot;Meet the Saints.&uot; Holly, who had started school that day, cheered with the Varsity squad and I could see her smile all the way up to my seat in the bleachers.

Was it hectic? You bet it was, and I foresee the rest of the year being that way.

Was it worth it? Let me see, three happy children in family-oriented, safe, excellent learning environments. For a parent that is as good as life can get.

Christina Hall is the lifestyle editor at The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3549 or by e-mail at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com