Well, the first day of school was "great!", according to the Girl Child. She loves her teacher and likes her new classroom. She even, she reported with great excitement and pride, got her own locker. At which point we had the following conversation:

Me: You realize that the Supreme Court has held that you can have no expectation of privacy with respect to your locker, don't you?

GC: What does that me-- wait, that means that if I bring stuff in to school and put it in my locker, I can't expect that it will be private, right? People can look in it?

Me: Exactly. It is not like your night table at home where you can keep your private things.

GC: [Said with a smile] So, I shouldn't bring my night table to school.

Me: Right.

I was more than a bit surprised that she immediately grasped the concept.

I am pretty sure that she is going to be a lot smarter than I am.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:25 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Today is the first day of school in our little town. I took the morning off from work to stay home to take the Girl Child down to the bus stop to wait for the school bus. She's very excited about starting first grade. Even though she had a bath last night, she asked to take a shower with me this morning so she would be sparkling clean for her first day. She was, to her credit, amused when I smeared my shaving cream all over her back.

While we waited for the bus, I unclipped the hair brush she keeps on her back pack and I brushed her hair. Stroke after stroke, taking out the knots she missed, making her hair gleam in the morning sunlight, making her hair soft and pretty. I clipped the brush back on her pack as the bus came up the road, collected my kiss, and sent her on her way.

First grade. Where does the time go?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 11:06 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Sweet! Girl Child will remember it! Let us know how her day was.

Posted by: Jurate at August 29, 2007 12:24 PM (gN5ED)

2 Ha! Just you wait, my friend - my eldest gel just got her first training bra. And I'd swear I just stopped changing her diapers a couple weeks ago!

Posted by: Robbo the Llama Butcher at August 29, 2007 12:36 PM (0JsTF)

3 My oldest starts his first day on the 7th, he's excited, but a bit scared. They had a bus safety course last night for them, he cried a bit and said he didn't want to go on the bus but by the end he was going by himself. When they started talking about 'The Danger Zone' I don't know who it was more scary for, him or me.

Posted by: Oorgo at August 29, 2007 04:33 PM (ZUQGo)

4 Think how boring it would be if time stood still, though.

Posted by: Hannah at August 30, 2007 01:13 AM (lUH62)

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Yesterday turned out to be an interesting day for the kids. First, the Boy Child swam in the deep end of the pool. This was a big deal for him and when I told him that I was proud of him, he gave me a very shy smile, kind of ducked his head around to hide behind a chair, and asked me very sweetly if I could leave him a note telling him how proud I was of him. Of course, I obliged.

The Viking Bride told me that the Camp Director told her that a ghost story was making the rounds at camp and it had scared the heck out of all of the kids. The Girl Child told us about it, too. It has to do with Bloody Mary (no, not the cocktail) who has had her head chopped off and is now coming to do the same thing to you if, in a dark room, you call her name three times. The VB did not improve the mood when she told the kids to try it and they did and when they got to the third repetition of the name, she yelled, "BOO!!!"

We realized later how seriously the Girl Child took this when her bed was empty when we went to check on her before going to bed ourselves. We found her sleeping with the Boy Child. They were sharing his pillow. She was sleeping on her side, face to the wall. The Boy Child was sleeping on his back with his right arm thrown back, over the Girl Child's shoulders, as if he was comforting her or shielding her. The Viking Bride and I both said, "awwwww", at the same time. It was terribly sweet. We left them there.

This morning, the VB told me that when she spoke to the GC about it, she said:

VB: Aren't you lucky to have a brother who loves you so much and who protects you?

GC: When I am with him, I'm not scared. All he has to do is touch me and the scared goes away.

Again, awwww.

I am tempted to throw salt over my shoulder and spit at the ground in an attempt to avert the evil eye. I am clearly a lucky guy.

Where did these children come from?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 11:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Oh good god, this made me cry. And YES! I remember the Bloody Mary Bloody Mary thing when Lucy was little. She and her friends would all go into the bathroom with the lights off and a flashlight; too funny. They freak themselves out and not sleep that night as well. Ray didn't seem to go through it when he got to the same age; guess it's a girl thing. GC: When I am with him, I'm not scared. All he has to do is touch me and the scared goes away. Omg, I'm crying again, that is so sweet I cannot stand it. And these children came from *you*, RP; you and your Viking Bride.

Posted by: Amber at August 09, 2007 10:51 AM (zQE5D)

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The Girl Child has taken to the sport of equestrianism with exceptional enthusiasm. She has taken group riding lessons at camp and yesterday she experienced her first private one-hour lesson. She already sounds like quite the little pro, telling me when I got home last night that her lesson started with her "tacking up" her horse. The correct use of the insider lingo makes you sound like you know what you are doing.

She expressed great interest, it was reported to me by the Viking Bride, in acquiring her own horse. Uh huh. She had the following conversation with her riding instructor. I admire her ability to keep driving at an answer:

GC: If I wanted to buy a horse, how much do they cost?

RI: You would have to save up your pennies.

GC: How many pennies?

RI: A lot.

GC: Well, how long would I have to save them for?

RI: A long time.

GC: Ok, how about this horse? How much would it cost to buy this horse?

RI: He's not for sale.

Like a good litigator taking a deposition, she just kept on going to try to get her answer. I am really quite proud.

The instructor told the Viking Bride, by the way, that the Girl Child is absolutely fearless. I gather that this is meant to be a good thing.

The Girl Child is already speaking with great anticipation about getting to canter so she can start jumping.

Interesting aside, I have noticed that when it comes to sporting activities, the Girl Child is not so much of a team player. She has shown a marked preference for the individual sports: swimming; riding; tennis; and martial arts. Not a team sport in that entire list. She's going to have us sign her up for the local YMCA swim team for the winter. She's keen to acquire another team swim suit. I don't know quite what lessons to draw from this observation but it is clear, as it always has been, that she is quite comfortable living inside her own head and playing by herself. I guess her sport interests are an outgrowth of this.

Either way, I find her to be a creature of endless interest and boundless fascination. I am so lucky to have a daughter.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 02:12 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 You make the whole idea of being a parent sound much less scary. You just seem to enjoy every aspect and see the humor in all of it... and how much you adore your kids is obvious. I hope I'm going to be as good a parent as you, one day.

Posted by: Hannah at August 07, 2007 04:09 PM (lUH62)

2 My daughter was - and is - exactly the same way regarding the preference of individual sport over team. I think she much preferred the idea of challenging/outdoing herself vs. that of having to rely on a group of others to quench her love of conquering. That said, she has recently joined an adult kick-ball team. They won their city's championship and played in a national tourney in D.C. !!

Posted by: Jennifer at August 07, 2007 06:58 PM (RlFqM)

3 I suspect she gets a great deal of satisfaction from personal accomplishment... and a great deal of frustration from relying on others. Save your pennies, Dad. :-)

Posted by: caltechgirl at August 07, 2007 07:38 PM (qPLLC)

4 Uh-oh. Forget the pennies; save the nickles, dimes, quarters and the occasional sawbuck, Dad. You be in some deep, deep trouble.

Posted by: Kathy at August 07, 2007 10:25 PM (ufifB)

5 She obviously has great perseverance, my oldest is like that... even if you tell him that it's not going to happen, if he wants something enough he will bring it up days down the road. He also doesn't forget if you promise him something, even if he didn't appear to be listening, I found that out the hard way.

Posted by: Oorgo at August 14, 2007 01:48 PM (ZUQGo)

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