I twitch at the subject line, because I don't think of what we do as making sacrifices; it's just that fostering DS's intellectual development, for example (but not only) by choosing the best school for him, is a very high priority for us. This has influenced us in big ways: our family shape and timing, and the attitude that I take to my career for example. Concretely, we considered all our educational options and picked a school that is an hour from us (by bus or bike) and is fee-paying. Our second-choice school, which I think is also a very good school, would have been far far more convenient and also cheaper. Not settling for second-best is working out pretty well for us so far. However, every family's situation is different: e.g., if we had less flexibility in our jobs or if there didn't happen to be a good cycle path most of the way, it could easily be that that kind of travel time would cause stress enough to outweigh the benefits. I think what is true is that we think what happens to DS at this age educationally may well be very, very important for his long-term development and happiness. I see a lot of people not thinking that about their 6yos, but generally not here!
