(Pictures from F's "All About Me" book - New Friend = Sarah; I like to eat = apples; Favorite toy = doll [my old cabbage patch kid, Cybil Lily]; This Year in Kindergarten = I play in the [play] kitchen).
Ever since F "adopted" my much-loved cabbage patch doll, Cybil Lily, she brings Cybil everywhere - to the park, restaurants, bike riding, etc. F asks me a lot of questions about Cybil - "What did you and Cybil do together? Did you ride down the slide with her or did she like to go on her own?" Important stuff. I know that what F's really asking is "what were you like as a kid? were you like me?" And it makes me sad that my answers are so foggy, how hard it is to remember that time.
Every day F comes home from kindergarten with a new story, often involving whether someone in her class moved from "ready to learn" to "think about it" on the class behavior chart. F lives in fear of "think about it." I told her yesterday that I spent most of kindergarten under the teacher's desk because I couldn't keep quiet (apparently I still have this problem, hence why I blog). I could tell this information shocked her and debated whether I should have kept it to myself. I questioned my purpose in telling this story. Perhaps, I guess, a desire to assure F that I remember how hard kindergarten can be.
The other day we met up with a few moms and kids from F's playgroup after school. F played for awhile, but then decided she was "too exhausted" and begged to leave. I understand how exhausted she feels after a full day of kindergarten, how tiring it must be to be "on" all day. But I so wanted to talk to my friends for a little longer, to ignore the pull of dinner and bath and stories. Just to relax. As a child, I always thought my mom brought me to the playground for me, now I realize how much of playground time is for adults as well.
After we returned home I thought about how one day, if things work out a certain way (and that's a BIG if) I will be past all this and one of my children may be faced with a similar situation - tired kid, the pull of chores, the desire to converse with friends for a little longer. Possibly - like mine - a life of playgrounds (or work and playgrounds, if they choose that route). And IF it works out a certain way, one night one of my children may call me, wanting to talk about life with children. And what will I remember? What will I have to say?
WEEKEND LINKS:
*My flickr favorites. Sometimes it's nice to just sit and look and beautiful things.
*A great talk on how your search engine may be keeping information from you (link via A Day That Is Dessert).
*WOW.
*1000 Poems. I wish I could read some of them.
*Tree tents.
(Pictures from F's "All About Me" book - Favorite color = pink; My family and I like to = be with each other, What I can do all by myself = get dressed).
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