turnover

i volunteered at the kids' school yesterday afternoon up until when the final bell rang, and waited in the lobby for them to join me so that we could begin the mad dash that always makes up our mondays: maneuver the car out of the jam-packed parking lot, race home, help susanna and her friend maggie wriggle their bodies into leotards, feed all three kids snack, load up the car again (making sure liam has plenty to occupy him for an hour) and hightail it to gymnastics.

but it's funny how kids don't seem to sense urgency when you need them to.  susanna came skipping down the kindergarten hall towards me, arms outstretched with a booklet of some sort, intent on sitting on my lap on the lobby couch as she showed me its contents.  i reminded her of our time crunch and assured her that we would spend time that evening really looking at the pages and discussing them.

but i got a sneak peek while she was at gymnastics.  turns out that she was yesterday's Student of the Day, where she gets to stand in front of the class and is asked the same set of questions every Student of the Day is asked: what is your name?  who do you live with?  what is your favorite color?  what is your favorite thing to do?  and then, after the interview is finished, everyone in the class creates a picture of the Student of the Day, showcasing some of what the student shared in his/her interview.  the booklet that came home is a stapled set of all these drawings.

as i thumbed through the pages, i was fascinated for two reasons.  for one, i'm constantly amazed at what a wide range of ability levels are housed in one kindergarten classroom.  you see it with readers vs. non-readers, athletes vs. the less-coordinated set, musicians vs. those who are tone-deaf.  and after flipping through the booklet, add one more area to the list: artistic ability.  there were drawings that were spot-on perfect, down to the ruffled hem on susanna's skirt.  and there were drawings where, as hard as i tried, i couldn't even make out where susanna's head was.  people marvel at how i teach middle school ... i marvel at how kindergarten teachers possibly deal with a group of students whose levels are all over the map.

so that was the first fascinating piece.  the other was what susanna was doing in most of the pictures. i've scanned a few of them and inserted them below.  susanna's name is on the top, as the title, and the artist's name is visible at the bottom.  do you see what struck me?

yes, susanna was wearing a green top and a polka dot skirt with an orange fringed hem.  yes, she has dark blond hair and blue eyes.  and yes, she loves to be outside.  these budding artists perfectly captured all those aspects of our little girl.  but there's one other thing that they all included -- even the last one, which is a bit harder to see.  something that rocked me to my core.

she's PLAYING FOOTBALL.

i've written on this very blog about my hatred of the sport.  i love watching basketball and tennis and will contentedly serve as spectator to baseball and soccer and golf and even bowling ... but anyone who knows me knows how much i absolutely detest football.  so how is it possible that my doll-loving, princess-adoring, musical-singing prisspot daughter actually got in front of her class and, when asked what is her FAVORITE thing to do, opened her rosebud lips and uttered the phrase, "i like to play football with my older brother"?

i'm all for my children asserting their independence and stepping out on their own and developing their own likes and interests and hobbies.  but seriously ... football?

it's like a line drive to my heart.

("line drive" is a football term, right?  i'm trying to come up with a nifty pun but my utter lack of knowledge is causing me to fumble.  probably something i need to tackle in the near future.)