First Day of Kindergarten

In retrospect, it has been a tough couple of weeks.

As usual, neither BioMom nor I saw it coming. The FYO was just a couple of inches past normal. A little hyper. A little wiggly. A little cranky. A little grumpy. A little TOO excited.

Finally I got it: she's nervous about school.

Sure, she's been in heavy-duty Montessori for two years now. But Montessori pre-school is not KINDERGARTEN!

Kindergarten feels like a much bigger step. As one school parent told me -- she is now in the public domain.

Strangers find out that she is starting to school and they come over to congratulate her. She's getting phone calls and post-cards. We bought a new backpack and filled it with pencils, crayons, a pencil box and other first-year accoutrements.

Of course it was a big step for us too, and we were not immune to our own fits of hysteria in anticipation.

Last night over dinner on the porch, the FYO devised a plan to skip school days in order to sleep in and live the Ferris Bueller's proverbial day off.

This was curious as she had not even had a single day of real school in her life.

Nor has she seen the movie or even HEARD of Ben Stein despite being the daughter of an economist.

Nor does she know the song Danke Schoen.

Her plan was to send a look-alike-doll to school in her place.

When queried about what would happen if the doll was called upon by the teacher, the FYO was at a loss.

We ultimately got her (and not her alias) off to school without a glitch. A few tears were lost in the transaction. But you can bet they weren't the FYO's!


Save Ferris!