First Day (Just an Hour)

There were light sprinkles of rain as we left the house, so Dad had Monkey2 on his shoulders, with his golfer-size umbrella over the two of them as they went to the bus stop. I drove Monkey1 to school, discovering that morning rush hour doubles the usual drive time. We weren't late, but we weren't as early as I had expected.

At school, Monkey1 and I used one of the car window sunshades over our heads to protect us from the heavy rain sprinkles, which made her giggle. She was skipping and nearly running across the parking lot and into the building. Inside, there were people everywhere and noise, and she clutched my hand tightly. We found her cubby with her name on it for her backpack, and we put her homework in the homework basket. Yes, she had homework for the first day of PreSchool; it was a sheet with her name on it, to decorate any way she wished. She had drawn several people holding hands, one was Princess Leia, and the others were characters from other stories.

The teacher's aide recognized and greeted us, and after I milled around trying to interest Monkey1 in a few familiar faces or the available toys, the teacher took her hand and spoke to her. I just slipped away. Thank goodness we met the teacher and aide and had our first look at the classroom last week when it was quiet. [ Is the Classroom Ready Yet? ]

I had a parents' meeting in the cafeteria, for an hour, and then returned to her classroom to take her home. She was clutching her pink backpack, along with all her classmates, as they received something from the teacher. "Mommy!" she leaped on me. She was happy.

We got all the way out to the car, and she saw another child in the parking lot with a piece of paper, and she said, "Mommy, I forgot my homework!" So we went back to get it. The teacher explained that she was keeping all the homework papers to decorate the classroom, and that everyone would have to look around for his or her paper on the next class day. Monkey1 burst into tears. "I don't want to go to school!"

We retrieved little sister from Dad at work, riding the elevator, running down the hallways (very long halls, extremely good for running), having a cookie, and then piling back into the car and visiting with our usual Tuesday mom & kid group.

At home, I realized that in all the planning for the First Day of School, I had neglected to plan for lunch. I made curly noodles and defrosted some meatballs.