The Last Year of Grade School Is A Very Hard Year

It really is. This year L gets to adopt a kindergartener, attend special 8th grader events practically every month, do 30 hours of service work, and pick a High School.

It's that last one I want to write about; although any of them would make for an interesting story.
L wants to attend CBC with all his heart. He has to pick a back up school, just in case he doesn't get in to CBC. That's the stressful part for me. How do I find another school which so perfectly fits his needs? (More like how do I find a school we can afford which fits his needs?) There are a few that are simply out of our budget. Even with me working a 9-5 job, we don't have an extra $13,000 plus clothes, gas, lunch money and the trappings of teenhood. The money just isn't there. Some of the schools are too far away. I'm not willing to get L out of bed at 5:00 am to get him to school by 8:00 am. When would he sleep? Some of the schools are strongly oriented towards athletics. L is not an athletic person. He's the son of a Geek and an Artist.
I can't choose his school for him, he must decide for himself.

There's something else I won't make him do. I won't make him get Confirmed. For the non-Catholics out there, Confirmation is a sacrament where a person chooses to commit him/her self to God and the Catholic faith. Most Catholic parents have their children baptized into Catholicism at a very young age; far too young for the child to choose the religion themselves. So Confirmation is literally a confirming of your parent's choice. It's you saying, "Yes, I want to be Catholic, that's my calling."
Well, we're not Catholic. L was baptized Catholic, and he's spent 8 years attending a Catholic school. He's gone to church and received the sacraments of First Penance and First Communion. He had no trouble with those. He wanted to fit in with his class, so he did it along with all of them. But he's not sure if he wants to receive Confirmation. He knows he doesn't want to be Catholic, so taking the sacrament of Confirmation would be lying to the Church and himself. L is an honest child. It doesn't seem right for him to lie. (To which I agree wholeheartedly, BTW) And, if he gets confirmed, he's almost certain to get into CBC. His academics are good. His test scores are through the roof. His teachers like him. Several influential people have said they would write to the principal of CBC and tell him how wonderful L is; and what a valuable addition to the school L would be. He fits the bill for their desired diversity. And, please Gods-Goddesses-Universe Itself, CBC is right for my son.
CBC chooses students who are Catholic first, students who attended Catholic schools but are not Catholic second, and students who are not Christian at all third. If there's any room left. Last year there were 100 students on their waiting list.
So we pick a back up and pray that L chooses to be confirmed; because he wants it, not because he lied.