June 11th, 2010. Karen's last day of Kindergarten, coincidentally falling on the last day of my summer vacation, was supposed to be a celebration- a time to reflect, snap a few photos, and dine on cupcakes- so I was fortunate enough to drop by a little later than normal yesterday, practically missing the closing ceremony entirely. Big Karen glared at me when I entered the back of the school gymnasium, and when I bumped into the back row of plastic chairs - the kind can you buy at the Food-4-All - Little Karen followed suit.
A short time later, I was frantically devouring a small bounty of conciliatory chocolate cake when they walked past me on their way to the buffet table. "Hey First Grader!" I sang out.
"I'm not in First grade, yet." snarled Little Karen. "I'm Post-K." she added, as she grabbed the plastic plate piled high of guilty pleasure from my hand.
"Okay, Post-K." I said. "There's no rush."
But she was already gone. She was grabbing a handful of gummi worms from the elaborate spread put before her by the graduation committee committed to fortifying the children with superfluous confections. Big Karen was standing beside me now.
I tried to rally. "Post-K? She belongs in Special-K!" I laughed.
Big Karen elbowed me in the chest.
"You're such a boob." she muttered. Then she, too, reached for the bowl of sugary, little snakes.
L is for Value the Child Left Behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment