To pre-k or not pre-k

I'm a little apprehensive about schooling my child. I think she will do just fine academically when she does start school, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for it. I'm totally selfish. I love our little life and how easy going it is right now. D goes to sleep when she's sleepy and wakes up when she's ready to get up. She eats when she or we are hungry and she is free to play with her toys, her computer, the dog... whenever she chooses.  When she eats at home she is allowed to eat whatever she likes. She can sit in a chair at her table or snack in the living room. She spends her days during the week with Nana or Daddy, depending on Tony's work schedule.

My fear with D starting school is how she will handle being structured. If I was home with her all the time, I could make up a schedule for her and start preparing her. But my mother is much more loosy-goosy. I may try coming up with something anyhow because we may be getting closer to enrolling D in pre-school. 

Since D's birthday is in November, she will have to wait an extra year to start kindergarten in 2017. I don't understand the whole pre-school thing. There are some places that accept only 4 yr olds and some that will take 3 & 4 yr olds. I had originally thought about enrolling D this fall but I was made to think that she wouldn't be accepted into our program in our town. But then I saw something on the school's facebook where a parent questioned when she would know if her 3 yr old would be accepted. Are they taking some 3 yr olds at our pre-school? I started to panic. Is it bad that I waited? Should I have called earlier in the year to get her enrolled this fall? Would they have let her sign up? I tried researching it online but the school website was not at all informative.

I feel like D is learning a lot from just being with us all the time. My mom works with D the same way that she did with me as a kid. D's really good at numbers, shapes and colors and can recognize some letters. She can even spell her name! We still need to do some work on the whole alphabet and letter sounds, but I'm pretty proud of what all she can do right now and how her little mind works. Would it be so terrible if she only got one year of pre-school instead of two? Is she really missing anything?

I decided I would just get the nerve up and call out local pre-school to find out what I needed to do. I started off my conversation with telling them I wanted to put my child on the waiting list for next year. The gal on the phone told me that if she was three we could get her on the list and we might be called at any time since vacancies come up at all times of the year. She suggested that I pick up an application, fill it out and then see what happens. They're only open from 8-3:30 so I asked T to go by there this afternoon while he and D are out and about. Maybe he will ask some questions while he is there. While I was on the phone with the pre-school I didn't ask anything about cost. I'm hoping that there will be some info on the application or that I can ask when I turn it in. My plan is to just make arrangements to come in to work a little late one day and swing by there on my way out of town. And I guess we will take it from there.