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Sam’s backpack is always stuffed with fliers and leaflets offering everything from free bowling to books. Some of the leaflets contain parenting advice and insight. I rarely read these leaflets because most of the information is not exactly revolutionary or helpful. For example, I do not need to be told to feed our children breakfast. I understand some parents do not realize they need to feed their children, but I suspect those parents probably don’t read the little leaflets either.
Today, as I emptied Sam’s backpack, something written on a newsletter caught my eye. It said “A kindergartner is a peek into the future man or woman.” I thought about Sam and the older kids as kindergartners and wondered if it were true. I thought about myself in Kindergarten and wondered if that little girl is me.
I was a show-off. I remember my mom taking me to McDonald’s one day. I had some french fries in the car. As we drove down our street toward home I saw some of the neighborhood kids. I wanted them to know I had been to McDonald’s, so I rolled down the window and held the french fries at an unusual and unnatural angle so the kids could see. I acted nonchalant and didn’t make eye contact. I let my french fries do the talking.
I went through a wetting-my-pants-in-public phase. I peed in line at King Sooper’s. This was in the morning. I had afternoon kindergarten and I remember we had to rush home so I could take a bath before going to school. The laces of my black and white saddle shoes were all wet. The worst moment of this phase was when it was my turn to recite the Pledge of Allegience in front of the class. I stood holding the little wooden stick of the class flag at a perfect 45 degree angle, knowing what an important job I had that day. It didn’t stop me from peeing in front of all the kids and Old Glory.
I was a princess for Halloween.
I invented a way to make puppets by folding paper a certain way. I made dozens of puppets. Dozens and dozens of puppets.
I drew a lot of pictures of people at the doctor’s office getting shots.
Once, on the school bus, an older kid offered a chocolate chip cookie to me and I was so mortified I couldn’t move or speak.
I went to the Ice Capades with my cousin, who was visiting our family in Denver. She borrowed one of my dresses. A blue dress. I wore a pink dress. From that moment, we battled over whether blondes or brunettes look better in pink. I am a brunette. She is a blonde.
My school had two kindergarten classes. My teacher’s name was Mrs. Degette. The other kindergarten teacher was named Mrs. Scott, but I insisted on calling her Mrs. Scotland. I remember doing this and thinking Mrs. Scotland is a better and fancier name than Mrs. Scott…
My friend Caroline and I had the same dress. Once we wore it on the same day (unplanned) and turned our delight into a Show And Tell topic.
I guess I was a confident but incontinent child, unless someone offered a cookie to me. I was a princess in pink, pre-occupied by the paranoia that every trip to the doctor would end with a shot in my bum. I loved french fries, showing off, and didn’t mind showing up in the same fashion ensemble as another girl.
Some things always change. Kindergarten may provide a peek, but it is small.
Via Lexie at Lexical Light, who via’d Marla, I thought I would participate in this music meme. I could write about how cold it is outside. This is the alternative.
If you want to do this on your blog, here are the directions: go to this link, enter the year you graduated from high school in the search space, and post the list. Then you bold the songs you like, strike out the songs you didn’t like, and do nothing to the songs that do not inspire any type of memorable reaction.
The Top 100 Songs of 1989:
1. Look Away, Chicago
2. My Prerogative, Bobby Brown (because any song with “prerogative” in the title deserves admiration)
3. Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Poison (should have been called “Every Rose Has Its Prerogative”)
4. Straight Up, Paula Abdul
5. Miss You Much, Janet Jackson
6. Cold Hearted, Paula Abdul
7. Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler
8. Girl You Know Its True, Milli Vanilli
9. Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird, Will To Power
10. Giving You The Best That I Got, Anita Baker
11. Right Here Waiting, Richard Marx
12. Waiting For A Star To Fall, Boy Meets Girl (“Waiting for Prerogative to Fall”)
13. Lost In Your Eyes, Debbie Gibson
14. Don’t Wanna Lose You, Gloria Estefan
15. Heavan, Warrant
16. Girl I’m Gonna Miss You, Milli Vanilli
17. The Look, Roxette
18. She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals
19. On Our Own, Bobby Brown
20. Two Hearts, Phil Collins
21. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli (“Blame It On My Prerogative”)
22. Listen To Your Heart, Roxette
23. I’ll Be There For You, Bon Jovi
24. If You Don’t Know Me By Now, Simply Red
25. Like A Prayer, Madonna
26. I’ll Be Loving You (Forever), New Kids On The Block
27. How Can I Fall?, Breathe
28. Baby Don’t Forget My Number, Milli Vanilli (“Baby, Don’t Forget My Prerogative”)
29. Toy Solider, Martika
30. Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul (“Forever Your Prerogative”)
31. The Living Years, Mike and the Mechanics
32. Eternal Flame, The Bangles
33. Wild Thing, Tone Loc (“Wild Prerogative”)
34. When I See You Smile, Bad English
35. If I Could Turn Back Time, Cher (too bad WordPress doesn’t have a little button that simulates text on fire…I would click that button)
36. Buffalo Stance, Neneh Cherry
37. When I’m With You, Sheriff
38. Don’t Rush Me, Taylor Dayne
39. Born To Be My Baby, Bon Jovi
40. Good Thing, Fine Young Cannibals
41. The Lover In Me, Sheena Easton (“The Prerogative In Me”)
42. Bust A Move, Young M.C.
43. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Great White
44. Batdance, Prince (“Prerogativedance”)
45. Rock On, Michael Damian
46. Real Lov, Jody Watley
47. Love Shack, B-52’s
48. Every Little Step, Bobby Brown
49. Hangin’ Tough, New Kids On The Block (another selection worthy of being eaten by computer simulated flames)
50. My Heart Can’t Tell You No, Rod Stewart (“My Prerogative Can’t Tell You No”)
51. So Alive, Love and Rockets
52. You Got It (The Right Stuff), New Kids On The Block
53. Armageddon It, Def Leppard (“Prergogativon It”)
54. Satisfied, Richard Marx
55. Express Yourself, Madonna
56. I Like It, Dino (the Flintstone’s dog had a hit record?)
57. Soldier Of Love, Donny Osmond (yeah, right Donny…)
58. Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Tears For Fears
59. Cherish, Madonna
60. When The Children Cry, White Lion
61. 18 And Life, Skid Row
62. I Don’t Want Your Love, Duran Duran (I will embolden anything by Duran Duran)
63. Second Chances, .38 Special
64. The Way You Love Me, Karyn White
65. Funky Cold Medina, Tone Loc (“Funky Cold Prerogative”)
66. In Your Room, Bangles
67. Miss You Like Crazy, Natalie Cole
68. Love Song, Cure
69. Secret Rendesvous, Karyn White
70. Angel Eyes, Jeff Healey Band
71. Patience, Guns N’ Roses
72. Walk On Water, Eddie Money
73. Cover Girl, New Kids On The Block
74. Welcom To The Jungle, Guns N’ Roses
75. Shower Me With Your Love, Surface (“Shower Me With Your Prerogative”)
76. Stand, R.E.M.
77. Close My Eyes Forever, Lita Ford
78. All This Time, Tiffany
79. After All, Cher and Peter Cetera
80. Roni, Bobby Brown
81. Love In An Elevator, Aerosmith (“Prerogative In An Elevator”)
82. Lay Your Hands On Me, Bon Jovi
83. This Promise, When In Rome
84. What I Am, Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians
85. I Remember Holding You, Boys Club
86. Paradise City, Guns N’ Roses
87. Iwanna Have Some Fun, Samantha Fox
88. She Wants To Dance With Me, Rick Astley
89. Dreamin’, Vanessa Williams
90. It’s No Crime, Babyface
91. Poison, Alice Cooper
92. This Time I Know It’s For Real, Donna Summer
93. Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson
94. Heavan Help Me, Deon Estus
95. Rock Wit’cha, Bobby Brown (“Rock Wit’charogative”)
96. Thinking Of You, Sa-fire
97. What You Don’t Know, Expose
98. Surrender To Me, Ann Wilson and Robin Zander
99. The End Of The Innocence, Don Henley (“The End of the Prerogative”)
100. Keep On Movin’, Soul II Soul
Annabelle bunny was here. 
We brought her home Friday afternoon, sneaking her past the dog to our downstairs playroom. She spent most of her weekend either in her hutch or hopping around the playroom. She felt sunshine on her silk-spun fur, impossibly soft, on Saturday afternoon when Aidan and hubby cleaned her hutch in the backyard. When our dog eats grass it’s alarming. When Annabelle ate our grass it was charming.
I can see why Aidan is so smitten with Annabelle, a dwarf rabbit with dark brown fur and extravagantly shiny coffee-hued eyes. Annabelle was very playful, batting around her ball, chewing on her toy carrot, standing on her hind legs to better sniff you, my dear. Whatta bunny.
The boys, especially Joel, loved having her around. He kept saying “nice!” as he pet her. I don’t know if he was reminding himself to be nice, or if he was thinking she was especially nice. I had the same thought as I watched our smiling kids gently interacting with her: nice.
I admit I was very skeptical when I first heard Aidan’s plea to bring her class bunny home for a weekend. I pictured sneeze attacks and poo attacks, bunny-generated and wholly unwelcome. My deepest fear was the bunny would die in our care, either by dog-induced heart attack or randomly—her number would be called. The responsibility was real. When the teacher handed her over on Friday it was with the expectation she would return alive and well. Thankfully, our weekend was blessed with health for all.
We returned her alive and well. She lived, and so did I. We may do it again.
Achooo.
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