Today, Ana started kindergarten, and Emma started pre-K.

Emma began the day by stating that, “I will fall in love with the boys at Pre-K.” Not sure where this came from or what she was thinking, but by the end of the day, all she really cared to talk about was the fact that there was another Emma in her class and about the fine selection of snack time beverages. “I had apple juice today. And tomorrow, I will have orange juice! Then the next day, chocolate milk, and…” She drew a self-portrait (where she was both green and bald), drew a picture (“It’s me and Papi on the log ride, and there is Winnie the Pooh”), and “gotted my hands painted and stuck them on a paper!” Her teacher read a book about a naughty monster at school and the much loved Llama, Llama Misses Mama. When I asked her if she missed HER mommy, she was quick to answer with, “Nope!”

Ana began her day by telling me, when I cried while telling her good-bye, “Oh, it’s okay, Mommy. I will miss you, too.” (Followed by her furtively glancing towards the exit as if to tell me to JUST LEAVE ALREADY! Which I did.) She did some drawing, some coloring, and practiced writing her name, but none of that was nearly as exciting as seeing an older friend from church on the playground, along with some of the girls from her pre-K class. She ate her potato chips, drank her Yoo-hoo, and enjoyed her “Three Mousketeers” bar at lunch, but she admitted that “well, I only ate half of the peanut butter jelly sandwich you sent.” As soon as we got home, she insisted that we start in on her homework — reading a book a night — and told me that next time, she’d read it to me.

It was a good day.