New Beginnings

I've been lazy about blogging lately. All my free time has gone from being an internet junkie to keeping busy with the new business. I sure am loving it though. I feel like I have something of my own...I am contributing to my family in a way that I haven't been able to do in a long while...and I am really having fun.

In other news, my little Red Beast is having her final day of preschool this week. She will have 2 weeks off and then off the kindergarten. My eyes well up every time I think of it. How am I grown up enough to have an elementary school kid?? When did that happen?

So this week is full of shopping for school supplies, new shoes the whole works. Dan is silently staring at his empty wallet trying not to grimace. But it should be fun. I LOVED shopping for school stuff. I hated the school part, but the new shoes and clothes and a fresh box of Crayolas? Hell yeah!

I remember being in first grade and I had my first pencil and used it until it was down to a tiny little nub because I was too scared and embarrassed to use the pencil sharpener. Introvert? You think?

What do you remember about starting school?

Two Introverts go to Kindergarten

Today, Dan took off work in the morning so that we could attend a class called "Jump Start to Literacy". It was a class for parents of incoming kindergartners and we were "strongly encouraged" to attend. Translated to: if you don't come we know your kid is a dum dum and we will keep her in kindergarten until she is 18. So we went.

There was alot of handouts and slides. I felt like I was back in school myself. I kept thinking about how uncomfortable my chair was and however did I make it through 17 years of school? Man am I glad it is my kids' turn and not me. Whew.

We learned alot about how to help Red learn how to read. The class was actually somewhat useful. Surprise. Armed with our new knowledge and confidence that our kid is a genius and we won't have to teach her anything because she will know how to read simply by carrying our super intelligent genes, we prepared to leave.

Alas, no we were not excused. We were then informed that the current kindergarten class would now come in and we get to use our newly learned techniques with these children....just to prove we were listening. Pop quiz for parenting??? This blows.

I love my kids. Adore them. Want to smother them with hugs and kisses kind of love. But kids....other kids freak me out. I don't know how to talk to them. I'm an introvert. It doesn't get turned off just because you are cute and small.

I looked at Dan. I don't want to do this. "You talk to it." He looks at me blankly. The smiling and timid little people are marched in and handed out to different parents. I keep hoping the kid will choose to sit next to Dan. He scooted over just in time for them to plop an adorable little girl with glasses right between us.

Nervously I look about. She looks smart. Good. Maybe she can teach us and we can just sit here and smile dumbly.

Which basically we did.

She sat down and we opened the book called Beach Things. We were supposed to just look at the pictures and talk about what we see. Before we could say anything, she starts flipping the pages and reading it so fast we couldn't get a word in edge wise. Silently I was relieved. She's so fast and smart I don't even have to think of anything to say.

At last, her teacher gathered her up and I heaved a sigh of relief. I lived to tell the tale of how I had to sit next to a kindergarten kid I don't know. And I used my uber-brilliance to help her read.

Good thing we have a genius like her at home. This is gonna be easy.