Kindergarten cocktail conversation
When I dropped MG off at the supermarket playroom we were happy to see Kim the Beloved Playroom Lady instead of Bertha the Sort-of-Dim Playroom Lady. They had a joyous reunion of hugs and then Kim introduced MG the other little girl there. They gazed at each other in dazed mutual recognition and then Other Little Girl said, "Don't you go to Smartypants Yuppie School? You're in the other kindergarten!"
"Oh," I said, "You must be in Ginger's class! MG and Ginger went to preschool together!"
"Ginger?" Other Little Girl looked quizzical. "Is that the Ginger who sits next to Ryan?"
"Um," I said, trying to keep a straight face even though Kim was cracking up. "I'm sure that must be her."
Kim said she knows dozens of Smartypants Yuppie School kids. I'd never thought of it before but of course she does, since SYS is just a few blocks away from the supermarket. Kim nannies for a couple of them, and she says she's been taken to show and tell a couple times, and all the kids in the class just about fall over in excitement to see her outside her natural habitat of the supermarket playroom.
I told her about the conversation we had with MG a couple days ago (in the car, of course, where else? We're always in the car these days. The only other time she talks to us is bedtime.):
We were talking about how MG's going to try out the Chess Club (yes!) after school on Monday. "There's a boy in my class who's going to go to Chess Club too!" she said. "Guess who?"
We were stymied, since so far she says almost nothing about school besides "It was okay." She almost never mentions any kids, except for one girl from another class who she says is her best best friend, but she doesn't know her name.
So I asked for a hint.
"He has blond hair like me," she offered, "and he's friends with Nick."
Well, that was no help, so I tried the name of the one boy she's mentioned so far (she complained about him not following the rules): "Is it Sam?"
*Exasperated sigh* "Sam!? How could it be Sam? Now, is Sam friends with Nick?"
Apparently, both MG and Other Little Girl figure that we adults know all about their class seating placement and social dynamics. It's just one of those things that grownups know, along with twenty plus twenty.
"Get ready," Kim advised. "It's a whoooole new world."
"Oh," I said, "You must be in Ginger's class! MG and Ginger went to preschool together!"
"Ginger?" Other Little Girl looked quizzical. "Is that the Ginger who sits next to Ryan?"
"Um," I said, trying to keep a straight face even though Kim was cracking up. "I'm sure that must be her."
Kim said she knows dozens of Smartypants Yuppie School kids. I'd never thought of it before but of course she does, since SYS is just a few blocks away from the supermarket. Kim nannies for a couple of them, and she says she's been taken to show and tell a couple times, and all the kids in the class just about fall over in excitement to see her outside her natural habitat of the supermarket playroom.
I told her about the conversation we had with MG a couple days ago (in the car, of course, where else? We're always in the car these days. The only other time she talks to us is bedtime.):
We were talking about how MG's going to try out the Chess Club (yes!) after school on Monday. "There's a boy in my class who's going to go to Chess Club too!" she said. "Guess who?"
We were stymied, since so far she says almost nothing about school besides "It was okay." She almost never mentions any kids, except for one girl from another class who she says is her best best friend, but she doesn't know her name.
So I asked for a hint.
"He has blond hair like me," she offered, "and he's friends with Nick."
Well, that was no help, so I tried the name of the one boy she's mentioned so far (she complained about him not following the rules): "Is it Sam?"
*Exasperated sigh* "Sam!? How could it be Sam? Now, is Sam friends with Nick?"
Apparently, both MG and Other Little Girl figure that we adults know all about their class seating placement and social dynamics. It's just one of those things that grownups know, along with twenty plus twenty.
"Get ready," Kim advised. "It's a whoooole new world."
posted by elswhere | 4:19 PM
2 Comments:
I am far too tired to have anything much coherent to say, but just wanted to say I enjoyed this spate of posts. And I have no idea why Miss Clavel is not Sister Clavel. And I love that five year olds are not too big to think that their parents know Everything Important.
Thanks, Susan! I guess that false impression of omniscience is a good thing, for now. Pay no attention to that woman behind the curtain! I am Mom, the great and powerful!
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