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Thursday, August 23, 2007

Little steps toward kindergarten

So hot on the heels of losing her first tooth, Anna "started" kindergarten today. I use quotation marks around that as she only went for an hour and both Heidi and stayed with her the entire time. Officially, it's called Kindergarten Glimpses, which I am fairly certain is designed to get kids into kindergarten gradually as well as allow parents to meet the teachers and feel a little more comfortable with the classroom. It went pretty well overall - she didn't want to leave when it came time to leave, and that bodes fairly well for Monday. The only variable not tested was our absence, which I think will change the dynamic significantly, but I still think she'll be fine.

She is growing up very quickly - and I realize that sounds very stock and trite. Of course, everyone's children grow up faster than they'd like. I admit, I have a hard time sending her off to kindergarten which is completely ridiculous and I can hear the sneers out there in the blogosphere already. She has to grow up - she has to get out there and try. And as a parent, I can't deny her the opportunity to experience life in all its forms, even the pain. That's hard to reconcile as her father, but it's essential.

Anyway, here's her official first day of school photo:

(She asked me after I took the picture if you could see the gap where her tooth used to be. Check.)

Afterward, we trekked up to Story City for pizza at the Pizza Ranch (soon to be opening in Ames as well!) and then hit the Story City Carousel. It was rainy but warm and humid (gotta love Iowa in August.) The Story City Carousel is one of only 300 wooden carousels left in the United States - it was painstakingly restored in the early 80s and is quite a draw for central Iowa.

Here's a shot of us on the carousel - look quickly, it'll likely be one of the few beardless pictures of me from this time period. I'm pretty sure I'm growing it back as I really miss it!!

And I just had to snap a picture of this as well - one of "clownish gargoyles" that adorn the edges of the carousel.


It's the stuff of nightmares, folks.

2 comments:

inkgrrl said...

Anybody who sneers at you for blogging about Anna starting kindergarten needs to piss off and go get a life. She's fabulous. Wonder how long it will take her to learn to squirt water out that gap in her teeth?

Anonymous said...

Heck, Dan, I'M feeling nostalgic about Anna starting kindergarten, and I'm not one of her parents. :) This is a huge milestone, and there's no going back. Savor these moments because they're important.