It's not the Navy, it's not the Peace Corps, it's Kindergarten*

It's Not Just a Job.  It's an Adventure!  This Navy slogan from 1961 has come to mind a couple of times this week as we have sent K to her first days of kindergarten.  We have gone from sleeping in until 7:30 every day to waking up at super-early "pre-kids career girl, head into Houston traffic and drive to work every morning" hours.  We have gone from play, eat, nap, play to rush, eat, go, play, go.  We have gone from a house filled with noises, both happy and ornery to one that is quite a bit quieter, both to my delight and dismay.
 
K's job, which was, up until now, to just be 4 and to spend each day learning and playing, has now become an adventure in navigating her new enormous (to her, at least) school, making friends and staying away from fire-ant hills.  Unfortunately, she did not stay away from them on her first day.  About 25 bites later, she assures me that she'll never step in one again.  I am hoping that the school groundskeepers have learned that fire ants can easily be controlled and don't really belong on a Kindergarten playground...just saying.

My job, which up until now, has allowed me to be dictator-in-chief, boss of all things relating to my children, now involves learning to pass control of my little girl over to people who don't really know her and who are responsible for 20-30 other children at any given moment.  Granted, I did that when she went to preschool, but preschool was a place where sweet teachers allowed you to come into the classroom and chat every morning before school started.  Preschool was a place where K came skipping out to the car rider line in the afternoon with a new macaroni necklace around her neck or construction-paper-bug-hat sitting upon her head.  Kindergarten seems to be all business and mildly-impaired communication, with no parents allowed in the school beyond the second day of class and snafu's that lead to my little girl riding around on the afternoon bus for an hour on the first day of school because no one bothered to tell me that the bus could not come down our street to drop her off.

This bus adventure leads me to pilfering another slogan, this one from the Peace Corps.   Motherhood is truly  "the toughest job you'll ever love."  Monday afternoon, I spent possibly the worst 45 minutes of my life imagining K stuck on a school bus crying her eyes out (or worse; there were many, MANY bad scenarios running through my head).  I frantically called the school, The Accountant for advice, and the district transportation department before finally finding out that my little girl had been taken back to the school office.  I walked into that office 10 minutes later with smoke literally coming out of my ears, a bad cartoon-like temper tantrum in the making.  Then, I saw K  sitting on the overstuffed office couch, her little legs dangling above the floor.  The anger was gone the second she looked at me, smiled, and, stifling sobs that were just below the surface, ran over to give me a hug.  I just don't know if the Peace Corps can teach you how to mask your panic and anger in a moment like that, but being a Mom taught me that skill, perhaps for the first time in my life.

Now, the first week of Kindergarten is coming to a close, and we are looking forward to a weekend together as a family, recounting all of the week's adventures, both good and bad.  The Accountant and I may have to set up a last minute Date Night, though.  It will be a romantic evening involving the cover of dark, some black clothing and a few gallons of organic fire ant control.  Perhaps Kindergarten is the Navy or the Peace Corps after all...fire ants, beware.

*I have the utmost respect for those who choose to enter both the Military and the Peace Corps.  Neither myself nor my husband have ever served our country, although both of our fathers' did.  I have no idea what it takes to protect our nation and those around us.  Nor do I have any idea what it takes to go to a third world country as a volunteer or educator.  The closest I came to that was living in a high-rise penthouse in Brazil (technically a third world country with really great restaurants) for 2 and a half years.  Simply stated, there is no offense intended as I hijack your advertising slogans for my expressive needs.