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A couple of weeks ago, Sarah couldn't wait to be done with The Kids Place. Last week, she wanted to keep going there and not go to "boring, stupid" kindergarten.
There was a day when the kids who rode buses in to John Ashley (kindergarten for all of West Springfield). Sarah was looking forward to it, then got big-time shy and clingy about going on the bus, and it went away -- around the block -- without her. She was first on when it refilled, and enjoyed the ride. But later on, she still wasn't keen on busing to school every day.
Yesterday (Thursday, as I start the post) was orientation. She saw her room (room 15) and her teacher, Mrs. G. Her surname is four syllables long -- the kids, or at least the parents, call her Mrs. G. Her teacher is very nice, and they have an extra big room. It's twice as big as the rooms in the new wing. Sarah has an assigned seat and a cubby. She was excited.
This morning (yesterday now, having crossed the midnight line a minute or two back), Friday, I packed her lunch and got everything ready except her glasses, which she managed to leave on the kitchen counter. I got some breakfast into her, though not much. At 8:20, we walked three blocks to wait for the bus. Another dad and daughter were there, so I knew we hadn't missed it yet. We chatted a little. The girls were pretty quiet. A woman in an SUV came by and confirmed from us that the bus hadn't gone by yet. She turned around and went back to relay the good news to her own family member at an earlier stop. Sarah saw a spider web on the street sign.
The bus finally showed. Instead of coming straight down the street, it turned into our sub-neighborhood and came out on our street and approached us obliquely, so we had to cross the street to get on it. I took Sarah's picture getting on. She got in the fifth seat and waved at me from the window and was gone. I went home and tried to get some work done.
At 3:15, it was time for me to go wait. I encountered a neighbor's son, who told me he is selling discount cards to help his soccer team. I'll probably buy one tomorrow. I walked three blocks and loitered at the corner. A father and two kids played with a football and a soccer ball a house away from where I waited before. I paced. Neighbor's son worked his way down the street and rang doorbells. He rang the bell at the corner house. I said it had been empty for a while, though they took the sign down after a few weeks. He said it had a nice doorbell anyway. I thought about sitting on the steps, but never did. I found a quarter in their grass.
My sacro-iliac ached. I resolved to bring a chair next time. People walked by, drove by, walked dogs by. Brett & Raisa and their mom slowed down and asked how Sarah liked school. I said I'd know in a few minutes. I'd been waiting a half hour. A bus came by, but it was someone else's bus. Thirty minutes after that, Sarah's bus showed up, coming down Ashley as before. I crossed to where they'd stopped earlier, but this time it came out a block away from our street so that I was on the wrong side again. I welcomed Sarah, who gave me her bag to carry.
"How was school?" I asked.
"I wanna LIVE there!" she said.
School was swell. Her teacher was swell. The bathroom wasn't the one I'd seen yesterday; there was a closer one. The teacher had read two stories. She doesn't want peanut butter next time. She'll think about what she does want.
Why did the bus turn and go on Johnson Street? To let her bus friend off. She has a bus friend? Better and better! And if the bus is going on Johnson, I'll wait there and only walk a block and a half. Sarah's grammy called from NJ to ask about her day, and she told her. We talked about it some more when we took our evening walk later on.
It was a good day.
.
A couple of weeks ago, Sarah couldn't wait to be done with The Kids Place. Last week, she wanted to keep going there and not go to "boring, stupid" kindergarten.
There was a day when the kids who rode buses in to John Ashley (kindergarten for all of West Springfield). Sarah was looking forward to it, then got big-time shy and clingy about going on the bus, and it went away -- around the block -- without her. She was first on when it refilled, and enjoyed the ride. But later on, she still wasn't keen on busing to school every day.
Yesterday (Thursday, as I start the post) was orientation. She saw her room (room 15) and her teacher, Mrs. G. Her surname is four syllables long -- the kids, or at least the parents, call her Mrs. G. Her teacher is very nice, and they have an extra big room. It's twice as big as the rooms in the new wing. Sarah has an assigned seat and a cubby. She was excited.
This morning (yesterday now, having crossed the midnight line a minute or two back), Friday, I packed her lunch and got everything ready except her glasses, which she managed to leave on the kitchen counter. I got some breakfast into her, though not much. At 8:20, we walked three blocks to wait for the bus. Another dad and daughter were there, so I knew we hadn't missed it yet. We chatted a little. The girls were pretty quiet. A woman in an SUV came by and confirmed from us that the bus hadn't gone by yet. She turned around and went back to relay the good news to her own family member at an earlier stop. Sarah saw a spider web on the street sign.
The bus finally showed. Instead of coming straight down the street, it turned into our sub-neighborhood and came out on our street and approached us obliquely, so we had to cross the street to get on it. I took Sarah's picture getting on. She got in the fifth seat and waved at me from the window and was gone. I went home and tried to get some work done.
At 3:15, it was time for me to go wait. I encountered a neighbor's son, who told me he is selling discount cards to help his soccer team. I'll probably buy one tomorrow. I walked three blocks and loitered at the corner. A father and two kids played with a football and a soccer ball a house away from where I waited before. I paced. Neighbor's son worked his way down the street and rang doorbells. He rang the bell at the corner house. I said it had been empty for a while, though they took the sign down after a few weeks. He said it had a nice doorbell anyway. I thought about sitting on the steps, but never did. I found a quarter in their grass.
My sacro-iliac ached. I resolved to bring a chair next time. People walked by, drove by, walked dogs by. Brett & Raisa and their mom slowed down and asked how Sarah liked school. I said I'd know in a few minutes. I'd been waiting a half hour. A bus came by, but it was someone else's bus. Thirty minutes after that, Sarah's bus showed up, coming down Ashley as before. I crossed to where they'd stopped earlier, but this time it came out a block away from our street so that I was on the wrong side again. I welcomed Sarah, who gave me her bag to carry.
"How was school?" I asked.
"I wanna LIVE there!" she said.
School was swell. Her teacher was swell. The bathroom wasn't the one I'd seen yesterday; there was a closer one. The teacher had read two stories. She doesn't want peanut butter next time. She'll think about what she does want.
Why did the bus turn and go on Johnson Street? To let her bus friend off. She has a bus friend? Better and better! And if the bus is going on Johnson, I'll wait there and only walk a block and a half. Sarah's grammy called from NJ to ask about her day, and she told her. We talked about it some more when we took our evening walk later on.
It was a good day.
.
