Kindergarten Roundup

I had the privilege of taking Elias to the Kindergarten Roundup at Davis Elementary earlier this week. After filling out half an hour's worth of paperwork, fifth graders hosted us on a tour through the school.

I was overwhelmed by a flood of my own childhood memories. My art projects, my teachers, the smell of the cafeteria, the texture of what they put on our tray every Thursday and claimed was "hamburger."

Elias, also excited, verbally assaulted the unprepared fifth graders with questions about what he could do RIGHT NOW. The concept of being introduced to the computer room, the library, the science lab, the baby ducklings in Ms. Monroe's class, all without being able to fully experience it RIGHT NOW was, for Elias, a tad absurd. I have to admit I can see his point.

Can we do the computers NOW, Mommy? Are we having story time now? Can I do that science project now Mommy? Do I get to to take that baby duck home, Mommy?

Not quite yet, Eli. But soon.

And although he couldn't do any of those things just yet, he could make new and interesting noises with his mouth after witnessing a random "big kid" doing it in the cafeteria for a mere three seconds.

This marks the beginning of lots of new things for Elias and for me. For Lena too. It's new for all of us. Eli's going to meet women and men who will be his teachers. He will spend most of the day with them and he will know them better than I do. A random group of strange big boys will be influencing him daily and I will have little to no control over what they do or how he perceives them. Am I ready for all this? Not really, but it's happening. Well, it's almost happening. Not quite yet. But soon.