In The Home Stretch

Today, we went to the elementary school for an open house so that The Princess could meet her new kindergarten teacher, see where her classroom would be, and in general get a sense of familiarity so that when school starts on Tuesday, she isn’t just completely overwhelmed with the newness of the whole situation.

Admittedly, I’ve been looking forward to this open house since finding out who The Princess would have for a teacher. Her teacher was my sister’s teacher (way back in the day), and she was also my neighbor when I was in high school. That I have a familiarity with her goes a long way with me as well. Additionally, Mrs. E is a pretty cool lady – her classes are always involved with community related activities, and I think it’s never really too early to teach kids to be nice to the planet and to take care of the streets where you live. Her class almost always adopts a little residential street near the school, and they care for it by picking up trash, and helping keep it clean. Okay, so it sounds a little creepy that my five-year-old could be picking up trash on the side of the road like some middle-aged loser meeting their community service requirement… but I still think it’s a great start to teach kids to take care of the environment.

One of my fears about the open house today was walking in the classroom and seeing the parents of the classmates and having it be a mish-mash of people I went to school with. That’s an entirely real possibility since we live in the same small town where I went to high school. In fact, roaming the halls of the school I saw many many familiar faces (including the wife of my high school boyfriend – glad neither of THEIR kids were in The Princess’s class). Fortunately, her class seems to be filled with children of people I’ve never met, so we’ll both be meeting all new people – and that’s a good thing.

The Princess got to wander around the new room, check out the stuff, notice the view of the playground from the classroom window, meet the teacher. I really can’t wait to see her off on Tuesday – I know she is really going to enjoy this adventure.