The Milk Sticks

It was the last day of kindergarten. I stood in the back of Bob's classroom with the other room moms and the two grandma volunteers. I held back tears as we listened to the kids sing Baby Beluga the Whale one final time.

Ms. Vaden stood in front of the board and explained that today, the kids would be taking home their report cards, some paperwork, and their "milk sticks."

On the first day of school, the kindergartners were given tongue depressor sized sticks with their names on them. The children filled in a small self portrait with crayon on both sides. Every morning when they arrived in room ten, the kids each found their stick in a small can and moved it either to the can for white milk, the can for chocolate milk, or the can that represented that they would not be spending fifty cents on milk that day. This was the way attendance was taken and the milk orders were recorded for Mr. Terry so he would know how many milk cartons to deliver to the classroom before snack time.

"Oh, their milk sticks," one of the grandmas repeated with a crack in her voice.

These tiny pieces of wood represented the 180 days of kindergarten. The year our boy started reading and grew three inches in nine months. The year he found Desmond and Felix and Ferruccio and Alessandro and the rest of his pack of guys. The year he found his confidence, his voice, and his love of school.

Next year would mean first grade; hot lunches and homework. They would be with the big kids. There were no milk sticks in first grade.

"Their milk sticks," I repeated. And the tears came.

The Last Day of Kindergarten

"Tomorrow is the last day of kindergarten. I learned a bunch of stuff in kindergarten like not to draw stick figures but make the real people. I also learned how to draw things for real instead of scribble scrabble. The most fun thing I did was the field trip to the farm because we got to ride the bus and it was really hot and we did sweating but nobody barfed and it was fun. Also in kindergarten I got to meet my friends Desmond and Felix and Fiorruccio and Alessandro. The best part everyday was the recess part because of the friends part. Next year I'll be in first grade. I've heard it's really hard."

Open House: A Review

"What was your favorite part of Open House, Bob?"

"I liked showing you guys all the books I made, and the farm, and being at school at night, and getting to eat dinner at the picnic tables, and playing with my friends on the big kids playground, and dancing with Desmond and Felix in the auditorium, and seeing the habitat projects in the first grade classrooms, and singing the May song, and it was all my favorite part."

Scene From the Art Table

"Bob, you didn't make checks all the way down like you're supposed to."

"You're not the teacher Layla, you can't judge me."

"I'm not judging you, I'm telling you what I think you did that's wrong."

"That's what judging is, Layla."

"I'm just telling you."

"I know what you're telling me."

Cracks

"Mom, do you know the Don't Step On a Crack game?"

"What are the rules?"

"The rules are that you don't step on any cracks. And if you do you lose."

"Okay."

"Mom? I'm pretty sure we'll never make it across the street."

You Talking to Me?

 
"Miss Lew! Oh my gosh, I mean Mom. Mom! I called you my teacher's name."

"It happens."

"I've never done that before."

"It's not a big deal."

"It's kind of weird-ing me out, Miss Lew. I mean, Mom. I did it again! What's happening to me?"

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Waiting

Waiting for school to start.

Spring Break: Day 5

 
"Watch out, Bob. I've got hot coffee here."

"Watch out, Bob. I've got hot coffee here."

"Oh, boy."

"Oh, boy."

"This game again, huh Bob?"

"This game again, huh Bob?"

"My mom is the best mom in the universe."

"My mom is the... Hey! I have a new game, Mom."

"I'm very glad."

"It's called scream. The rules are I just scream by your face like this!"

"First game! Go back to the first game!"

Truth-ish

 
"Mom, did you know that it's true that if you drill to the center of the earth your head will explode?"

"First, I don't know that it's possible to drill to the center of the earth."

"But if it was."

"I've never really heard of anyone's head exploding."

"But Desmond and Felix read it today with their third grade reading buddy and it was a non-fiction. That means it's real mom. Real."

Overheard On the Playground

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"Bob and Felix, I have a game for us to play."

"What is it Desmond?"

"It's a really good game, but first we're going to need glasses that can see into the future."

"That sounds like an awesome game, you guys."

Happy Hearts

"Mom, did you know Adam K. is giving me a special Valentine today? He told me he was."

"What kind of special?"

"It's a BFF Valentine."

"Do you know what BFF stands for, Bob?'

"Best Friends Forever - or maybe at least until next Valentine's Day."

Misunderstood

 
"Come one, Bob! Let's play Galactic Lawyers!"

"Okay, you play the robber, GeonHee."

"But wait there's no good guy..."

"Bob? Come here a minute?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Are you playing Galactic Lawyers?"

"No, Mom. Galactic Warriors."

"Oh. I thought GeongHee said Lawyers and that would be outstanding."

"He kind of has an accent, Mom."

Field Tripper

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"Bob, I found out I'm going to be a chaperone on your field trip tomorrow."

"What's a chaperone?"

"A chaperone is someone who comes along to help and make sure everything's okay."

"So like if someone barfs?"

"I guess so."

"Or poos themselves?"

"I think we're going to have fun."

"Sounds like it."

Little Bride

"Mom, today at school Su-Hyun said that she and Mateo are going to get married when they grow up."

"She did? What did Mateo say about that?"

"He said that it was too early to be thinking about it but I think he was maybe a little embarrassed that she told everyone already."

"Well, he was right. It's a little early to be deciding about marriage."

"I hope Delilah didn't hear about it."

"Why?"

"This is the kind of information that makes her get all crazy. She's a little crazy, mom."

Report

"... and so your teacher had all of those good things to say at your parent teacher conference. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Mom. I'm proud of you too."

"Thanks. Now the things she's thinking you could use a little improvement on are listening more and not vocally disagreeing when she's talking, especially without raising your hand."

"What do you mean?"

"We've talked about this before. I mean like backtalk."

"I don't do backtalk."

"You do."

"Do not."

"You're doing it now"

"Am not."

"Are."

"Nope."

Sayonara

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"But Mom, why does Dad have to go to Tokyo Japan?"

"He's going for work, Honey."

"But, Mom! Why?"

"He loves us and takes care of us by going to work and this is one of the things he does for his job."

"But, Mom! It's making me so sad that he's going to Tokyo Japan and I miss him so much, so much!"

"I'm sorry, Bob. We can see him on the computer and talk to him while he's gone. The week will go by really fast...  Do you want to practice singing one of your songs for the Kindergarten Thanksgiving Pageant?"

"Yeah, but first I'm going to cry a little bit because of the Sad-Tokyo-Japan-Dad thing. Then we can sing."

Like a Boss

"Bob, it's time to go. We've got to get home for dinner."

"Give me five more minutes, Mom. I just need to organize my guys."

Room Mom

I remember my mom being a room mother for my class when I was a kid and like everything else mom related, she made it look fun. She still tells me now what fond memories she has of being in my classroom. I am co-room mom of Bob's kindergarten class this year and it is fun. I've been volunteering in his room on Mondays and that butt-kicking hour and fifteen minutes that I'm helping them cut/glue/paint/draw has given me an even deeper respect for the teachers that do this job all day. I'm only dealing with five kids at a time and when I get home I need a nap. A hard nap.

I feel so fortunate that I get to do this. It's a little thing, but it's big to me.

Sure, I waited until 10:00 the night before Halloween to make forty clementines into tiny jack-o-lanterns for the holiday class snack tomorrow, but at least I had two cups of coffee and a bag of mini-Snickers to help me make it happen.

And I too will remember these days, and nights, fondly.

The Meeting

"Mom, the guys and I had a meeting today."

"You did?"

"Yeah, today at recess."

"Who called the meeting? Who decided to have it?"

"I did."

"What was on the agenda?"

"We decided we won't be chasing the girls anymore."

"Solid plan."

"And we should do better listening in the class."

"Always good."

"And I thought we should all learn Aaron's language since he only speaks Hungarian and Raymond's because he only speaks the Mandarin kind of Chinese."

"That's a lovely idea."

"We're going to finish the meeting after school when we meet up at the park, me and all the guys. We're like a team."

Soy Americano

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"Mom, today in school we learned the José song."

"Wow. Tell me you don't mean the Star Spangled Banner."

"No, not that. It's like this, 'José can you see...'"

"That's the Star Spangled Banner and it's not 'José can you see,' it's 'Oh, say can you see,' and I'm pretty sure that thinking that they're saying 'José' is a classic milestone worthy of the baby book."

"I'm not sure what that means... but who's José?"