First Day of School!

Mallory started preschool today, hooray! You can tell by her shiny white sneakers. And Phoebe has her first Parent's Morning Out session tomorrow (baby school, we call it) so she got to be in the picture too. Phoebe's jacket was necessary because it's pouring rain and I have to haul her along while I walk Mallory into her class. Clearly I need to remember to brush my children's hair before taking photographs.

Mallory met her teachers last week and obviously they made a great impression on her. Last night she said, "I have a great idea. Whenever I need Ms Mary's help I'm just going to yell, 'Hey Redhair! Redhair!'" I told her that she should instead call the woman "Ms Mary" and she was crushed.

When we got to school Mallory's lip started to tremble and her eyes filled with tears. But she didn't cry. She hugged me and went to play in the "Domestic Area" with the toy kitchen. On the one hand I was proud of her for not crying. On the other hand it made me sad because being able to control her tears is a sure sign that she's growing up.

I tried to let Phoebe walk by herself as we exited the building and it took about thirty-seven minutes to get back to the car, what with the exploring and the stumbling and the veering off into the boy's bathroom and all. She's too heavy to carry for long distances and too stubborn to hold my hand so I guess we're just going to have to leave a bit earlier.

Comments

aimee said…

I'm glad Mallory didn't cry. Tomorrow Noah starts and I know he won't even say good-bye to me; he is so excited! Oh well. Sniff, sniff.

I remember those days when it took forever for Noah or Rhett to walk somewhere. You want them to have their freedom, but you also want them hurry!!! :)

2:00 PM

Merry Christmas to Joey, too!

Scene: After the Christmas pageant. Me: You did great, Mallory, we're proud of you! Mallory: What was your favorite part? Me: Hmm. I liked the "Whatcha Gonna Call That Baby?" song. Chris: I liked that one too. Me: But I also liked "Joy to the World." Mallory: Joey in the world? What's that? Me: No, joy to the world, the song you just sang. Mallory: Oh yeah. Me: That's one of my favorite songs. Phoebe: A favorite song is a song that's your favorite and you like it and you sing. (Pause) Phoebe: And you dance. Mallory, before the show, in front of our haphazardly decorated Christmas tree. Phoebe declined to be photographed. All I was able to photograph of the event itself: Phoebe, objecting to the camera's flash: Now she closes her eyes before I snap every picture. Sigh. But she's cute anyway! And so is Mallory! And their dresses match! We're thinking Arby's: Okay, that's it! Recently read: The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife . ...

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