Five-Year Olds and Infants

Monday, 13 September 2010

As part of my don’t-work-on-Mondays policy that I instituted in late July, I took the day off of work today.

Okay, really I took the day off of work since it’s my son’s first day of Kindergarten.

I think it went well. We were allowed to go into the classroom early, so that Owen could get used to it a little bit before the other students arrived. We put Owen’s backpack on the hook where his name was, and he put on the name tag provided. Inside, the teacher had set up an easel with all the kids’ names on it and she asked Owen to circle his name. He found his name quickly and, choosing the pink marker, circled his name.

We spent a little bit of time looking around the classroom; we found Owen’s name at one table, and at another we found a puzzle for Owen to play with while we waited.

The other kids came in quick, most of them had one or more parents with them. One little girl was dropped off by her older brother (he looked like he was starting 4^th or 5^th grade, and he was not happy to have to show his little sister to her new class). One mom was unabashedly crying. Another mom showed up with her fancy-schmancy camera and took pictures of her son’s first day.

About ten minutes later, the teacher rang the windchime hanging in her room and told the students to come sit on the floor next to her. Seeing Owen, she told him he could come sit right next to her. Cautiously, he did. And we slipped out.

I hope he likes Kindergarten. I did. So did my wife. I think, in retrospect, it was the best year of compulsory schooling I ever had. And the most important.

Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Oh. My. God.

Today , finally, felt like being back in the old routine. I’m at work, Owen’s at day two of Kindergarten, and Jennifer is taking care of Isla. The fun day at work last week (when there was a picnic) is over, and after going to work on three of the last 48 days, I now have no plans for any vacations. At all. I checked with my supervisor, however, and I do have 11 vacation days left, so if the mood hits me… (On the other hand, it might be smart to carry some of those days over to next year when I begin taking classes again.)

In other news: my worker sent me THIS LINK.

I’ve never seen a trailer for a book…have you? I thought trailers were just for movies and TV shows. Hm. This is a new twist in the world of advertising. And, apparently it’s effective, because after watching the trailer, I immediately surfed over to the library’s website and put the book on hold. As the site says, if the book is half as good as the trailer, it’ll be worth a read.

In other news: I received THIS BOOK in the mail today. Signed by the author, no less. I gotta say, I could really get used to authors and publishing companies sending me free copies of their books; “What, you mean it’s free as long as I write a critique of it? Uh…okay…since I’d probably write a critique of it anyway, you might as well send me a free copy.”

Yeah, so, anyways, I’ll put a link to my review once that’s online.

Wednesday, 15 September 2010

I got a call from my sister today. She says she won’t be able to make Isla’s baby shower (technically called a “welcoming the babies party” by the party planners) this weekend. She has to work most Saturdays, so her news was not terribly surprising. Another friend of ours sent an email saying they’re gonna be out of town this weekend, so they can’t make the party either. Again, no problems…it just gives me flashbacks to Owen’s baby shower. Journey with me back in time real quick here:

So, in 2005, when Owen was 5 weeks old, our friends, Andy and Bobbi, hosted a baby shower for Owen. I had been looking forward to the shower for weeks, hoping it would be a fun day that would lift Jennifer’s (and my) spirits and be an all-around fun day of being with friends. Andy and Bobbi, to their credit, cleaned their already beautiful house up even more. With help from my wife’s sister Kara, they decorated marvelously – even putting up signs down the block directing traffic. Our friend Laura, meanwhile, make the cake from scratch; a cake that, hands down, was one of the most creative a tasty cakes I’ve ever enjoyed.

But guess what? No one came.

Well, not exactly no one, of course. But close. Besides Andy, Bobbi, Kara, and Laura (the party planners), and their kids and spouses, the party was attended by our mom’s, our sister-in-law Tina, and two friends. One of those friends was actually the mom of my friend Jamin (who didn’t show up), and another friend was someone we hadn’t spoken to in years, but who had just happened to meet up with Bobbi at a recent Witness meeting.

I knew some people wouldn’t be there: my father-in-law and brother-in-law were already planning on attending the family shower one week later, so they probably saw no reason to come to both showers. My sister, as always, was working. My friend Nick had just gotten married and was still on his honeymoon. Other people didn’t bother to say they wouldn’t be showing up, but I found out why later: Jamin, unbeknownst to me, was off getting married. My friend Rhett had just broken his leg, and was immobilized. Meanwhile, Bobbi’s mom “Florida” (who had been invited), didn’t feel like showing up, but did feel like calling to see how the party was going. When her daughter mentioned that my mom-in-law Debbie was there, Florida said: “Oh, if I would’ve known Debbie was going to be there, I would’ve come.” Thanks Florida. That meant a lot to Jennifer and me.

At the end of the day, as we piled our cranky baby and gifts into the car and drove away, Jennifer said: “Well that was my worst nightmare come true.”

I think she was exaggerating, because it was nice of our friends to host that party, even though (almost) no one came; but I understood her meaning.

Enough whining. I hope we’ve fixed what went wrong last time: there’s no need to have a separate party for friends and family, for one thing. For another thing, this party is for my sister-in-law’s new baby, too, so that might maximize the attendance.