We scored the classroom with the BUNNY

first day of school
Originally uploaded by Liz Henry

I get so excited at the first day of school! I like new things, and as a kid, I switched schools a lot. If I could have gone to a new school every week, I totally would have. Moomin is not quite like that, I know. But he was excited, a bit nervous, and happy about the new school! I don’t know much about his new teacher, but I’ve met her, she seems nice, AND… she’s the one who has the classroom with a bunny who hops around on the floor during class time.

I hung around for muffins and coffee with Rook, eyeing the other parents who seem to know the landscape; there is a PTA-like-thing which probably goes so far beyond a normal PTA that it has NGO status and a Swiss bank account. Various other parents assured me that Ms. Grommit is “gentle”… in fact “the gentle one”, who does lots of math and science, and has “interesting projects”. How to interpret “interesting projects”?! Interesting as in actually interesting, or interesting like INSANITY where we the parents must know trigonometry and “help” to build room-sized models of famous monuments out of sugar cubes and bits of string?

Moomin will like the routine of a new school. He adapts quickly to the structure of a new environment, if it has structure. He might learn the beautiful part of new schools — that because almost no one knows you, you get to become someone new. It’s his chance to hack his personality and his social position. He seems poised to be “that kid who likes books, comics, and games.” He will not be “that short quiet kid”… as he has picked up so much confidence and ability to express humor socially over this last year.

Like many other parents this morning I long to be a fly on the wall, and to go through just one day of 3rd grade again. The first day, the juciest part of the peach, the tasty newness and strangeness before all has become routine. I don’t get to have it. It’s his experience… he gets to have it… and I will never know what it’s like! Oh, watching him go up the steps purposefully in the line of kids, with his backpack on and pencils sharpened, just as if he knows what he’s doing — it squeezed my heart into a radioactive glowing diamond.

I can’t wait to hear about his day. Fingers crossed that “How was school?” will not be met with “Oh… okay, I guess!”