Kindergarten meets Addison

As conscientious first-time parents of a kindergartener, we were concerned about the intimidating nature of the first day of school and the impact it would have on our little girl. Luckily (for us, not for Addison as you will soon understand) there was an orientation to acclimatize first timers to the structured atmosphere associated with the public school curriculum. The orientation was to be held in the gymnasium, with the school principle providing a detailed review of the modus operandi at Nolan Elementary.

The chaos created by apprehensive parents leading nervous children into the confined space that was the gymnasium made it a difficult start into an unfamiliar environment. As such, it was no surprise to Heather that Addison seemed a little timid as she approached the doors into the gym, as she had seemed of late to have lost some of her outgoing personality, being much more shy and reserved in public . However, we would later realize that her perceived reticence was due more to her vigilance than to any degree of bashfulness.

As she followed Heather into the gymnasium, she caught sight of the principle directing the masses in as calm and collected a manner as possible given the task at hand. Having met the princple on one previous occasion, we are still not sure if she recognized him as the principle or just a man of authority. At any rate, Addison seized the opportunity. Marching straight up to Principle Harwood, she thrusted her tiny hand toward him in the universal manner of greeting in the form of a handshake and said, in a loud enough voice to be heard above the constant rumble of the crowd, "Hi, my name is Addison Grace Kulisek and I have a Barbie doll house". Receiving his polite greeting and return handshake, she turned and walked into the gymnasium, as if this were a part of her daily routine for the past year.

We were worried about how to prepare Addison for Kindergarten and how she would react to this new, highly structured environment. However, what we should have been more concerned about was preparing Kindergarten for Addison. We are fairly confident that we're not the only ones that will have our hands full trying to handle that girl!

Reagan's Prayer

This will be the first post that we have dedicated completely to Reagan. Unlike Addison, it has been more difficult to convey his quirky personality, but I will try as best I can with this recent story.

Driving home following Church this afternoon, during the "witching hour" following lunch but before nap time, we were having issues with the kids fighting in the backseat. As I began scolding both kids, I ask each of them what they can do to improve their attitude. Addison, as always, is quick with a list of rehersed answers that she knows I can't challenge. Reagan, on the other hand, is not as practiced in the art of telling daddy what he wants to hear, and remains silent. So I repeat the question to him again. His response? I kid you not, the boy begins praying to God. He actually starts saying a prayer!

Heather and I cannot contain ourselves, barely fighting back the laughter that is making it hard to concentrate on the road, and the moment of discipline is lost. Once I am able to regain my composure, I have some concern that I've literally put the fear of God into the boy. So I glance back in the rear view mirror to get a sense of the impact my admonishment has has on him. The smirk he has on his face as he's looking right back at me in the mirror tells me all I need to know. He learned a valuable lesson today...I, like my older sister nearly on a daily basis, can outwit my dad.