The Night Before School Starts

I thought I'd wax poetic tonight about my sadness over my baby starting kindergarten tomorrow.  Maybe I'd talk about our wonderful weekend in San Francisco or maybe I'd write something about what it's like to know I'll have two hundreds minutes to myself five days a week for the next nine months.  But no, the topic for tonight's blog came to me about ninety minutes ago, just after I put the kids to bed, even though the story started earlier in the day.  

While I was in the shower, the kids were playing at the kitchen table with art supplies.  For Magster, this is a daily event.  She needs her art hour.  For La Nina, this is more unusual, but not unheard of.  Anyway, as I'm toweling off, always the time when tragedy strikes, the Dad says to me, "Have you seen what the girls are up to?  It's a mess."  

I came into the kitchen saw little squares of green construction paper everywhere, glue sticks with lids off tossed all over the kitchen and scissors on the floor.  Clean up or no park, I told the girls. They went to work and I went back to deal with hair, make-up, etc.  By the time I reemerged, there was a box on the kitchen table with art supplies stuffed in it, green squares on the floor and a pile of papers.  It looked better, so I told them to sweep and we could leave.  They swept while I packed lunch and we headed to the park.  

Great play date.  A new Spanish speaking nanny appeared and engaged the Magster in a game of "Go Fish" in Spanish.  She did great.  She hung with the entire game and told me it was fun.  She even told me a few new Spanish words she learned.  

Then we stopped by the school to see her classroom and meet her teacher, then we wandered into La Nina's classroom and met her teacher.  At long last we headed home when the Magster informed me she couldn't start school because she can't speak Spanish.  I pointed out to her no one spoke English in the game she played and it wasn't a problem. She started to cry.  Not little tears, big gulping sobs.  La Nina cries like this, not the Magster.  

So I sat on the couch with her until she calmed down.  We went to La Nina's soccer practice which unfortunately was back at school and we had more sobbing.  By the third or fourth hour of this, I was worn out.  Yet, I stayed with her reassuring her all would be okay, it was normal to be nervous.

I fed the girls dinner, rushed them off to bed, figuring the only way to get Maggie over her fears is to get her in school.  She's going to be fine.  She's really a smart kid.  Maggie knows what to expect and she's worried.  I would too if I knew I was going into a classroom where I didn't speak the language.

So, after I get my kids to bed I head into the kitchen and there sits the mess from this morning.  With all the tears, I'd totally forgotten about it.  I bent to pick up the box of art supplies and it resisted coming off the table.  I looked under it and there I found hundreds of glue covered squares of green construction paper the girls had hidden under the box.  Unfortunately, now they were plastered to the table.  And the window sill.  And the banquet.  And the floor.  Dripping from the window sill onto my lovely, custom-made banquet back cushion was more glue and a few more squares of green construction paper.  Oh, and glued to the window sill, a paper towel.  I almost screamed.  

After nearly an hour of scrubbing and scraping, I think I got the mess cleaned up and all I can say is Thank Goodness Summer is Over!