back to school

Let me tell you about how I almost strangled Brianna at the store last week. Here's the set up . . . . . all of last school year she was complaining about not having a messenger bag. She had chosen a really cute backpack but wouldn't wear it like a backpack. All year the morning conversation included something like this . . . .

me: put on your backpack
Brianna: it's too heavy
Brianna: if only I had a messenger bag -sigh-
Brianna: I hate backpacks, my back is going to hurt if i wear it
Brianna: if I had a messenger bag, I'd wear it every day

You get the picture. This went on and on and on. We'd looked for messenger bags during the school year too, but the kind she wanted are seasonal. She'd have to wait.
So when we were looking for school supplies, there was about a million messenger bags there and we let her pick out whichever one she wanted. She looked around for a while and finally chose a backpack with Marie from the Disney cuties series. I feel like I saw blurry at that moment and imagine me swaying. All the nagging I'd heard about a messenger bag and she was picking a backpack. I felt my blood rising and knew I'd turned red. If I were the hulk, I'd have transformed at that moment. I went on to say something like "YOU ARE PICKING A MESSENGER BAG RIGHT NOW!", through clenched teeth. It's funny to me now but I really was mad then. Rodrigo was sort of like "let her chose whatever she likes" but I wouldn't hear it. We were standing there for about a half hour while she tried on about a million bags. Seriously. Serenity now. I told her to pick whatever she wanted, but I wanted NO whining about her choice.
She chose a messenger bag. It passed the test yesterday because all her friends also have new messenger bags. Now that they're in fourth grade, they're too big for backpacks. Oy vey.



After school, we were walking to the car when Brianna came upon a friend who is now a 6th grader. He said, "Hi Bree. It's a pleasure to see you". I'm not kidding. They chatted for a little while in a way that I never talked at that age. They might as well have been speaking in a British accent saying something like "Fancy seeing you here". In any case, my daughter and her little friends are growing up fast. -gulp-

Alec's day was a little different. He started his first day of kindergarten. He has a Spiderman backpack because, according to Brianna, there's nothing wrong with little kids having those things. His teacher is super nice and super patient. He was excited about making new friends. I think he might've been a little nervous too but as it turns out, about half of his t-ball team is in the same class. Some other kids are kids we know from the neighborhood. When they walked into class, they had to find their names and draw a picture of the people that live in their home. He drew me and Rodrigo holding hands because "we're always holding hands". That's not necessarily true but that's what he told his teacher, the classroom and all the parents that were still there. Nice. I guess it beats him saying that we fight or something. The year is starting off with a quick review of colors, so the whole classroom will have to dress in a certain colors each day for the next two weeks. Today will be red day.





feeling: old. my babies are in school
listening to: The Bravery (Believe)