Red Chuck

Kindergarten

So Harrison survived his first day of kindergarten and we survived dropping him off. School starts at 7:30 and as we left the house this morning, Harrison asked, "Are you sure school starts this early?" (My sentiments exactly.) Though he seemed uncertain about school hours, overall his mood was upbeat. He was excited about wearing his uniform, he was excited about his new lunchbox, and he was especially excited to be doing something that his sister isn't old enough to do. ("Hewen, one day you will be 6 and you will go to kindergarten too," he said.) Also, he was determined to bring in homework on his first day, so he wrote 2 + 2 = 4 in black majic marker on construction paper while he ate his breakfast at the kitchen table.

Since we are fortunate enough to live within walking distance of school, we all made the journey this morning, Lucky included. Our morning trek cut through a playground and a soccer field — gorgeous, wide open, dewy, grassy spaces. Yes, a scenic trek with lots of oppurtunities for a dog to frolick and/or take care of business. So in typical Lucky fashion, the TCoB aspect of the walk was performed not in the open fields behind school but in a small patch of grass right beside the school's main entrance. While Katherine took Harrison into his classroom, Helen and I stood out front and did our best to steer the crush of people clear of Lucky's work: "Good Morning, oops, watch out there, the dog just. . ." and instead of saying anything more, I employed an apologetic grin and a sweep of the arm to infer that there was something nearby that needed to be avoided. Thankfully someone appeared with a plastic bag.

Its hard to believe Harrison is now in elementary school. It seems just like yesterday that we were driving down 21st Ave with this cooing, brown eyed newborn boy in the backseat. Its also hard to believe I missed meeting Harrison's teacher and seeing his classmates because of our dog, Lucky. As Billy Pilgim would say, "So it goes."

Or, as Katherine says, in reference to Lucky, "Unbelievable!"

Posted by Red Chuck at August 19, 2005 04:41 PM