The first day of school was hard. The night before there was some anxiety, trouble sleeping, and complaints of nausea. And the next morning, there were some tears after drop off. Oh, I’m talking about myself. The kid was fine.
The first-day welcoming ceremony was lovely; a small parade of kids dancing through a gauntlet of worried parents, who threw confetti over them as they went, along with good wishes. Even so, it was hard to drive away.
Of course, after every pick-up, in the car on the way home, I’ve very gently grilled my daughter about her day. So far, here’s what I’ve found out:
Day One: In the playground, she played with a little girl in a grey tee-shirt. They rolled a ball to each other down the green slide. The tee-shirt had some glitter on it. She ate all her lunch, and especially enjoyed the cherries.
Day Two: She read a book to her teacher, just the two of them. The teacher with the long brown hair (Ms. Alicia, I remind her). The book was not too hard, and not too easy. And it was funny. She made a construction and a boy tried to knock it down. She cried, “stop!” and Ms. Christine came over to help. Two girls had an argument over a chair, and another teacher asked them to figure out a way to take turns. Eventually (new word), they did. Eventually, she ate all her lunch, except the yolk of the hard boiled egg, which she would like me to remove in the future. Eventually.
Day Three: The children went for a walk in the woods and found some ants, a toad, minnows swimming in the creek, and a turtle in a pile of leaves. Or was it a tortoise? Do tortoises live in Maryland? Do turtles hibernate? We need to look that up. She ate all her lunch, except the cherries, because now she’s tired of cherries.
Day Four: Ms. Alicia read the class a story about dinosaurs wearing shoes. My kid retells the whole story, using different voices for the various characters, because that’s how Ms. Alicia did it. “Your teachers are very playful,” I say.
“Yes,” says the kid. “Because that’s how teachers should be. Because kids need to play.”
She ate all her lunch.
There is no day five, as this was a short week, though it felt long. Every day, after school, she has spent the evening singing.
—Rachel