Yesterday

It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Not if, but when.

When would I get the first call from the school nurse? (Yesterday.)

When would Q miss his first day (or half-day) from school? (Yesterday.)

When would a little girl first plant a schmoocher-oo on my LMIK (Little Man in Kindergarten)? (Also yesterday.)

And when would Q score his first phone number from a little chickadee? (Yup, you guessed it - yesterday.)

Yesterday. Sigh. It all started smoothly enough. Quinn catching the bus. Keira off to preschool. Me at home trying to clean up the eternal chaos upstairs, otherwise known as The Purple Room. Then the phone rang. The words you don't want to hear: "Mrs. Quinnsmom?....This is Mrs. S., the nurse at his school...."

And silly me, my first thought was illness not injury. How inexperienced I am as a mom of a young boy.

As it turned out, after lunch (which they eat at 10:15am, btw, so as to completely quarantine kindergarteners from the rest of the general population), as the kids were lining up for recess, Q tripped over some kid's leg (who was butting in front of him in line, so he says) and he fell over a chair, onto a table, and crashed his nose. Bleeding ensued. Later a cheek bruise showed up. Thankfully, by the time I got there the bleeding had stopped and Q was in no major pain. Nonetheless, I was instructed that perhaps I should bring him home so he could spend the day icing it, off and on. Q was so brave through it all, although he did shed a few tears when I arrived....mostly because, as I found out later, he was bummed to be missing school; not because he was hurting.

Also as I found out later, a certain little friend from his class, and quite nearly a girl-next-door, snuck a little peck onto Q's cheek during circle time earlier that day. Of course, this is between you dear readers and me, riiiiiight? Please - NO mention of this to the one who says "it was so embarrassing!" (not becuase anyone saw, he says, it was just embarrassing.)

And the story does not end here. Later in the day, some of his classmates made get-well cards for Q. Among those doing the kind deed was the little smoocheroo herself. Although what distinguished her card from the rest was this: a Q inside a red crayon heart. And her phone number. Oh my.

Maybe teaching kindergarteners to read and write is overrated. I'm starting to think cookies, juice and a couple of stories isn't so bad afterall....