I probably think more about the dinosaurs than other people. I'm not a paleontologist or even a scientist; I just think it's pretty weird that our earth was inhabited by a bizarre hodge-podge of creatures a long time before us. And furthermore, I think it's odder still that someday some dinosaur-type-character may again exist and never know that we roamed the earth before them. Or worse yet they'll study us and read this blog and think "wow - who cares?". Not to be depressing but things change.
I've always considered my life as somewhere between normal and bizarre but today was like an international flight. When you leave Detroit, sleep in a drug / champagne combo stupor for 13 hours and wake up in Hong Kong. Isn't that a strange feeling - like some part of your life must be a dream but it's not clear which? I both love and hate that feeling. Sort of how I feel when I think about dinosaurs or ancient greeks or something else ye olde.
At 11:40 I went to get my daughter, sign the very official withdrawl slips with which a full copy of her, I kid you not, permanent record, was bestowed upon me. Glad to have that indeed. I met her in the cafeteria where she was walking out of the lunch line with a box of milk and a naked hot dog on a tray. We sat at a long table on round attached stools across from a pack of very tall boys, three of whom are from the shelter, one of whom tied my same daughter up yea, those few weeks ago. Every once in a while the deafening roar was interrupted by a relatively ancient cafeteria watcher-person clapping 5 times to calm the lunching lions.
We walked up to her classroom to clean out her desk which is huddled around three others to make a bit of a square type formation. The biggest baddest troublemaker has his desk all alone off to the side of the room. Now, last night we didn't ask our daughter to do her homework because it seemed silly but she had all of her "money" taken away from her today - it would seem that not doing homework costs you 3 photocopied dollars that are earned through good behavior or smart question answering. In any case, we averted that near hysteria and focused on many goodbyes. My daughter is more of a grown-up lover than kid lover so we had to visit the classes of teachers I had never seen nor heard of in my life to say "adios". Everyone (the adults more than the kids it must be said) gave big hugs and said goodbye and how wonderful she is and how much she'll be missed. And I tried hard not to cry at the thought that this move across the street must be a mistake - so many wonderful people who appreciate her and love her!
Well, a few tears dripped but neither of us were blubbering or anything unattractive like that. We stopped at a bakery for a comfort croissant then crossed the street to the new/old school and all of the tears were forgotten. In fact, I had to run to catch up with her as she blazed a trail to her room. It felt like nothing but a long, lazy summer had passed and it just felt, well, right for her. The wide open classroom with tables and barrels (really, I know) to sit on was really not the most impactful. The most impactful were the number of happy faces, smiles and all out joy among teachers and kids alike at seeing my little girl. I spent an hour trying not to cry and wondering how she was managing so gracefully this trans-continental flight that we were flying.
But here was the thing that confirmed my decision. Try as I may, I couldn't envision my other two school aged children walking the same trail that we did today. I couldn't envision them saying a breezy goodbye to their teachers and friends and skipping merrily across the street. I couldn't see them re-integrating as though no time had passed. And that was testament to the difference between these kids. Both of my boys fit just fine at their new school and, try as she did, my daughter never did.
This has all got me thinking about life and personalities and the dinosaurs. Today my first grader told me how the dinosaurs all "perished". See, there was a big meteor that fell from the earth and killed all of the plants. Then the plant eaters didn't have any food so they died. Since they were all dead there was nothing for the meat eaters to eat so they died. So, to quote his deep historical knowledge "all the dinosaurs really died of starvation". I actually have a healthy respect for made up history, so I was great with that explanation but it did leave me wondering – how much of our lives is fact and how much is our own imaginary figments?
I like to think that today I did something good and right. But sometimes I think that I did just plain something – and since no one can choose both paths, I’ll never know if it was truly good or right. But one thing is for sure – it’s just a moment in time like so many others for so many different people and creatures that have come before us. And we’re lucky – plant eaters or meat eaters, they didn’t get to pick which side of the street their kids should go to for an emotionally fulfilling experience, they got eaten or hit with a meteor or something - kind of puts it in perspective, eeh?
I've always considered my life as somewhere between normal and bizarre but today was like an international flight. When you leave Detroit, sleep in a drug / champagne combo stupor for 13 hours and wake up in Hong Kong. Isn't that a strange feeling - like some part of your life must be a dream but it's not clear which? I both love and hate that feeling. Sort of how I feel when I think about dinosaurs or ancient greeks or something else ye olde.
At 11:40 I went to get my daughter, sign the very official withdrawl slips with which a full copy of her, I kid you not, permanent record, was bestowed upon me. Glad to have that indeed. I met her in the cafeteria where she was walking out of the lunch line with a box of milk and a naked hot dog on a tray. We sat at a long table on round attached stools across from a pack of very tall boys, three of whom are from the shelter, one of whom tied my same daughter up yea, those few weeks ago. Every once in a while the deafening roar was interrupted by a relatively ancient cafeteria watcher-person clapping 5 times to calm the lunching lions.
We walked up to her classroom to clean out her desk which is huddled around three others to make a bit of a square type formation. The biggest baddest troublemaker has his desk all alone off to the side of the room. Now, last night we didn't ask our daughter to do her homework because it seemed silly but she had all of her "money" taken away from her today - it would seem that not doing homework costs you 3 photocopied dollars that are earned through good behavior or smart question answering. In any case, we averted that near hysteria and focused on many goodbyes. My daughter is more of a grown-up lover than kid lover so we had to visit the classes of teachers I had never seen nor heard of in my life to say "adios". Everyone (the adults more than the kids it must be said) gave big hugs and said goodbye and how wonderful she is and how much she'll be missed. And I tried hard not to cry at the thought that this move across the street must be a mistake - so many wonderful people who appreciate her and love her!
Well, a few tears dripped but neither of us were blubbering or anything unattractive like that. We stopped at a bakery for a comfort croissant then crossed the street to the new/old school and all of the tears were forgotten. In fact, I had to run to catch up with her as she blazed a trail to her room. It felt like nothing but a long, lazy summer had passed and it just felt, well, right for her. The wide open classroom with tables and barrels (really, I know) to sit on was really not the most impactful. The most impactful were the number of happy faces, smiles and all out joy among teachers and kids alike at seeing my little girl. I spent an hour trying not to cry and wondering how she was managing so gracefully this trans-continental flight that we were flying.
But here was the thing that confirmed my decision. Try as I may, I couldn't envision my other two school aged children walking the same trail that we did today. I couldn't envision them saying a breezy goodbye to their teachers and friends and skipping merrily across the street. I couldn't see them re-integrating as though no time had passed. And that was testament to the difference between these kids. Both of my boys fit just fine at their new school and, try as she did, my daughter never did.
This has all got me thinking about life and personalities and the dinosaurs. Today my first grader told me how the dinosaurs all "perished". See, there was a big meteor that fell from the earth and killed all of the plants. Then the plant eaters didn't have any food so they died. Since they were all dead there was nothing for the meat eaters to eat so they died. So, to quote his deep historical knowledge "all the dinosaurs really died of starvation". I actually have a healthy respect for made up history, so I was great with that explanation but it did leave me wondering – how much of our lives is fact and how much is our own imaginary figments?
I like to think that today I did something good and right. But sometimes I think that I did just plain something – and since no one can choose both paths, I’ll never know if it was truly good or right. But one thing is for sure – it’s just a moment in time like so many others for so many different people and creatures that have come before us. And we’re lucky – plant eaters or meat eaters, they didn’t get to pick which side of the street their kids should go to for an emotionally fulfilling experience, they got eaten or hit with a meteor or something - kind of puts it in perspective, eeh?
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