I apologize for the brief delay in posting today. I will blame it on re-entry issues from our wonderful, but routine-zapping camping trip. That and the start of school just a day later seems to have put my schedule (and my brain) in a blender on high speed.
Meanwhile, I picked the child up from her second day of second grade, and she seemed happy as ever to see me. I asked if she had a good day and she said yes. We stopped briefly at the restroom and I stood outside the door watching all of the other parents and children reconnect. Everywhere I looked moms were arranging play dates or whatever for the after school hours. I stood a world apart wondering if I was missing some magic key to fit in. The child came back and was immediately greeted by one of her classmates from last year with an enthusiastic hug. That made us both smile, but as we headed back home I noticed the child looked less than happy. I asked if she was hot, or tired, and she said no. I wondered if she was feeling left out, too…maybe she had overheard that last conversation between the girls her age who were headed to a neighborhood swimming pool. Maybe she was wishing we could go, too.
Soon she asked me when she would get the prizes for her Summer reading chart. She worked so hard all Summer reading books and keeping track of the pages so she could turn it in. She was frustrated last year that she didn’t know about the Summer reading program at her new school. Some of her classmates got the prizes and she didn’t, so she has already been waiting a long time. I explained that it might take a while for all of the kids to remember to bring in their reading chart and that it would take a while for the teachers to figure out the prizes and such. She absorbed this information by repeating it all back to me, and suddenly she was happy again.
So maybe the social angst is all mine…and she’s just waiting for her prize.