I guess the first day of kindergarten went well. Laura was as excited about it as you might expect. For a couple of weeks she has been asking every day if it was tomorrow. I stayed home late so that Mary and Lillian and I could all be there for the big drop-off, and made Laura waffles with milk for her special breakfast. She played in the paved yard with her buddy Elena until someone rang a horrible, screechy electric bell. Laura pranced in, found her seat and sat down as if she had been doing it for years. I listened to the teacher instruct the parents and felt a winded feeling coming on, like I was being punched in the stomach in slow-motion. There went my toddler, my preschooler, just when I was getting to know her. To be replaced by who knows what. Then the teacher kicked us out so she could have our kids all to herself. While we listened to speeches in the auditorium/cafeteria (the cafetorium) Mary asked me how I felt and I couldn’t say anything. She laughed, “He’s speechless. It’s a first.” (That’s what she says every time I’m speechless.) I couldn’t decide if my total ineffectuality the rest of the day was due to the usual Monday difficulties or that my mind wouldn’t let go of Laura in that classroom, with that expectant look on, ready for anything.
By the way, I don’t suppose anyone has been just jumping up and down to get at the archives for this site, but just in case you are, guess what: they aren’t working again. I’ll probably get around to fixing them over the weekend.
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