Hallelujah, Hatchling #1 has deemed kindergarten “really super-duper fun.” Whew. I wasn’t really worried about it — I knew she would once she got into the groove, I just wasn’t sure whether the getting to that groove would be painful or not. (For her and for me, admittedly.) With the exception of a few sad faces and words about how long the day is, she’s been jamming that groove, thankfully.

And now school mode has her adopting a new way of looking at things. Like the other day, when my dad asked H#1 and H#2 if they wanted to go for a walk to the end of the driveway with him. H#1 did, H#2, not so much. Because, well, he’s three, and when you’re three, it’s really hard to understand why anyone would ever want to stop what it is they’re doing and go anywhere else. So after much painful deliberation with H#1, she decided she would go by herself with Gramps. Then she had a brilliant idea, one that was no doubt inspired by her newly begun elementary school education. She took paper, a marker and a bag. The paper and marker for Gramps to make a list of everything interesting they saw, and the bag for anything worth actually collecting. And that’s how a simple walk became a glorified Show and Tell session when they returned with the following list:

1. A little squirrel
2. Crows
3. Butterfly
4. Grasshopper
5. Dragonfly
6. Little white moth
7. Dog or fox poop
8. Red ladybug
9. Red grass
10. Daddy

Oh, and how could I forget about the bulging, about-to-break plastic bag full of rocks? Happy back-to school!