Today, at 8:45 a.m., I was poised and waiting at the computer on the Chicago Park District website with my wishlist ready to add to my cart, watching the countdown clock waiting for it to hit zero, hands shaking and a lump in my throat while my nervous mind was racing.
Will I click fast enough? What if my computer freezes up?Did I put the right classes in my wishlist?What if thousands of parents are planning to click on MY son’s baseball class and I get the dreaded “Class full, add to wait list” message?
Seriously, it’s that competitive.
Of course there are many places to take classes in the city, but none come close to the reasonably priced and wonderful Chicago Park District programs. For example, Cubs Care Rookie Baseball for 10 weeks = FREE (yes, I got permission from my Cardinals fans husband and son who said they would love for the Cubs to fund baseball class while he wears his Cardinals jersey every week!), Arts and Crafts for 10 weeks = $15, Gymnastics for 10 weeks = $45, Soccer for 10 weeks = $18.Of course our taxes are funding the rest, but that’s part of the benefit of living in the city.
So I clicked baseball first, knowing it was more popular and had only 10 slots available at the location I wanted. Sweet success-it went into my cart!Quickly I went back and clicked Art, then the others.My kids got in ALL of their classes!
YES! I am so happy.
Now I’ve been gloating all day, as my friends begin to swap park district registration stories. This time, I’m the one everyone is envying. No camping out in lines on Saturday, and I only spent $78 for four classes.
Bring on the snow, because this is a happy day in a city mom’s life!
Did you get the classes you wanted? Share your Chicago Park District registration stories here.
