Your children were toddlers when you moved into the quaint little town of Stepford, population 920.   There you were immediately greeted by friendly neighbors and each one you met welcomed you to the neighborhood.  As they saw you had little children, they said, "Oh, you must visit our nursery school.  It is the most wonderful place.  Everyone in Stepford sends their kids to the nursery school.  The children are so sweet there.  They have the most wonderful games that the teachers lead them in.  Oh, and just wait until you hear the stories.  We have a very gifted teacher there and she just keeps the children spellbound with her stories.  And and the building -- it is such a beautiful building.  They have cozy little pallets to nap on after they have cookies and milk.  They have all kinds of toys to play with, and a beautiful playground outside.  Oh, I could just go on and on.  You must see it!"
 
You were amazed at how all of the people took such pride in the Stepford Nursery School.  So you go there to check it out and it is just as she has said.  There are little children playing everywhere, laughing, smiling.  You begin to see why they are so proud of it and, indeed, you begin to believe your children must attend.  After all, all of the children in town go there.  So you enroll your two and four year olds and they love it.  You do too.  Everyone is so nice.
 
As you go to pick up your kids you begin to notice that there are a number of older children there as well helping organize the games.  Some are elementary school age, some teenagers and a couple even college age.  You are amazed at how involved the whole town is in this nursery school.  It truly is wonderful.  You begin to share their pride in the Stepford Nursery School.
 
Each time you go everything is the same.  It looks good, but something begins to seem wrong.  You can't quite put your finger on it, but something is just not quite right about it.  You begin to notice that the older kids that you first saw helping out are there every time you go.  The first time you visited you had noticed an elderly man who sat with the kids and played with them.  He looked to be in his 90's, all drawn over, and said very little. Acted like he might have Alzheimers.  He seems most intent just playing with the toys.
 
One day you ask the director, "Who is that elderly man over there playing with the children?"  The director gives you a puzzled look and says, "What man, there are no men here?"  You point directly toward the elderly man and say, "That man."  The director still looks puzzled and asks, "Do you mean Johnny?  He is the first child that ever came here."  You say, "That is no child.  He is a 90 year old man."  The director looks at you with complete bewilderment and all of the sudden the truth dawns on you -- she cannot see what you see.
 
You see a 90 year old man playing with the children's toys.  She just sees another child.  He has always been there.  He never changes his behavior.  He is just the same as the children.  Then you ask about the teenagers.  "What teenagers," she replies.
 
Shaking, you quietly gather up your children and go home.  The Stepford Nursery School is a great preschool.  Everyone loves it there.  So much so that no child ever graduates.  No one ever learns to read, to work, to understand the world around them.  And no one even notices.