Yesterday, Dash and I visited his school for cookies and juice with his kindergarten teacher. Later that night, I told him "tomorrow is the first day of at least 17 years of schooling for you, probably more, 13 of it more or less mandatory. What do you think about that?" His reply? "I'm fired up. Can I start right now?"
That's my boy!
So, today, he embarked on that long journey, leaving me with a big smile and a thumbs-up. He had a great day. The biggest excitement came when he was able to play with friends from the other classes at recess time. He also said, "My nice teacher gave me a pencil box with my name on it, and guess what? It really had pencils in it, and guess what else? MY OWN WHOLE NEW ERASER! And some crayons, too, so I drew a picture of myself with a Yankees cap, and a hot air balloon on my head." He actually did eat his snack (a surprise, if you know Dash), and he's absolutely exhausted, more so than he ever was at preschool. But just like he left me in the morning, he came out of the classroom with a huge grin and a thumbs-up sign! I've been laughing all day. He's so happy to be in school that there's nothing about which I can be sad. I refuse to be sad about my "baby" growing up when, really, isn't that the goal: to raise them to be this happy and self-sufficient?
Dash reminded his sister Petunia about 100 times today that "this is my school now too!" She's in her last year of it, 5th grade, and entered with a bang. I wish I could show you what she wore, but I don't post pics of my kids here. She had on a Brit-rock style tee, red and blue with a black guitar and "Girls Rock" graffiti on it, silver sequins at the shoulder, and a plaid skirt to match. Dangling Hard Rock Cafe guitar peace-symbol earrings completed the rock-and-roll look. She looked so ... old. And, truth be told, I pretty much hated her outfit. But it covered her body, and it was definitely "her" -- fun and a little edgy, a bold look for a bold girl who is so happy pretty much all of the time. I can't complain that she's growing up when she's growing up this nicely!
As an aside to that, when the Guv and I took Dash to lunch after school, some high school seniors came in, and the girls were all wearing camo, which Petunia would've liked quite a bit ... except that the side of some girls' shirts were slit to the waists with only sports bras underneath and that they were wearing shorts that left nothing to the imagination. Frankly, I'm no prude when it comes to clothes or even nudity for that matter, but their "look" absolutely appalled me. I cannot believe that these girls have parents at all, and I also can't believe that our schools have no dress code that you at least have to have your skin somewhat covered! And I uttered a little "thank you" because Grace would never disrespect herself like that.
So, that's our scoop today: lots of joy, two big kids, and another reason to be thankful for boarding school further on down the road. Hooray!
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