Mark was not nearly as chipper as I was to see summer end. But he rallied, and was dressed, groomed and ready to go in record time. (I savored it, realizing it's the only time it'll happen this year.)
We joined the parade of parents and uniformed kids heading to school. Mark dragged his feet, and though I knew he was excited, he was also kind of sad.
"Why are you so bummed?" I asked him. "You get to see all your friends again! You'll get to play with them all day long."
"I like the play part, I just don't like the work part," he said, glumly. "I'm here to play, not to work!"
Which pretty much sums up my son's whole attitude toward life.
Kids and parents filled every inch of the playground. Mark's new teacher came out for them, apologizing for being late -- he'd just dropped his own son off at kindergarten. The kids lined up outside the door, then entered quietly, introducing themselves to Mr. P.
Once they were all in, Mr. P. invited the parents in, too. We filed in, and watched the kids fill out surveys about themselves. The kids were squished in close to each other; I counted 35 seats, all filled, and wondered how long they'd stay quiet like this.
The bell finally rang, and the parents drifted out of the class one by one. I touched Mark on the shoulder, telling him to have a good day, and he responded by immediately pulling away as though I had the plague. That little exchange reminded me why I was so happy to see him back in class (and ecstatic that he will someday have his own kids, who will be exactly like him!).
I headed off to work, cell phone turned up high, and ready for the first call of the day. I'm not sure if it will be that Mark a) "forgot" to go to the nurse at lunch, b) lost his log sheet with his lunch carb count on it, c) "forgot" to go to Kid's Club after school, or d) all of the above. But I am sure that my cell phone will invariably ring at some point today.
Ahhh, the joys of being back on our normal routine...
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