Initiate Countdown - T-Minus 4 Days . . .

[Warper]

Today was Open House at PudgePudge's school - and she cannot wait to start 1st grade on Monday.  Didn't actually want to LEAVE, but, well, I'm bigger and stronger and I always win.  She loves her new teacher, loves her desk, loves having a locker . . . . REALLY loves that her cousin 'D'** is in her class again, just like kindergarten last year.

**(Should point out that little 'D' is only kinda her cousin, through marriage, and exTREMEly distantly so.  She, however, pounces upon him with all the cousinly love of a Montel Show reunion.)

She's counted all her crayons to make sure she doesn't forget any (the world would instantly crumble if so much as a 'magenta' came up missing); practiced writing her name "fancy" (with a thousand curlicues per letter, taking a full page to write her name); and begged so much to be able to wear makeup on her first day that I've had to hide it - at work. 

The teacher was less that pleased at my response to her question "How will she be going home after school?"  The correct answer is either A) walker, B) car rider, or C) bus rider.  My answer was "Weeeell . . . mostly she'll get picked up by her nana after school, but a lot of times she'll walk.  Oh, and if I can work it out, she might take the bus every once in a while."  She looked at me like I was the ill-fated contestant on 'Weakest Link', before fake-smiling and saying "Well, we'll just see . . ."

Uh . . . 'kay.

When PudgePudge was reading a story in the classroom, the teacher was sitting next to her, and whenever PudgePudge had a big word the teacher would tell her what it was instead of letting her sound it out, which, really, is how I got my kid to read so well. 

Not sure I'm going to care for this teacher.  I suppose here I'll just fake-smile and say, "Well, we'll see . . ."