Big Kindergarten Girls

This morning could not go by quickly enough. Melody came out of her room before the sun rose and had already stripped of her jammies and began searching for her first day of school clothes. I informed her that she must eat breakfast before getting dressed, so my panty-clad five-year-old ate her Froot Loops as Dixie fussed over Melody taking the last of the Froot Loops.

Then it was time to get dressed. Melody could not find the mate to her socks, Dixie refused to wear the shoes that matched her clothes and kept insisting that she would tuck in her tunic-style shirt. They got Best Friend necklaces to wear so that they would feel close to each other and Melody's was lost in the disaster that is their room. At 8:00 I finally sent them out towards the van and told them I'd be there in just a few minutes when I finished getting ready. Perhaps eight minutes later I emerge to find that Dixie has lost her lunchbox.

I usher them to the van and begin scouring the yard for her Hello Kitty lunchbox, only it is nowhere to be found. I run in and throw another lunch together, then we begin the drive through the police-lined school zones towards school.

The girls had already decided that daddy simply could not take them to school because he is Mister Tardy. I informed Dixie that she could be Ms. Tardy because they were a well matched set. But we did get to school with our new clothes, new backpacks and fresh haircuts.





They couldn't understand why I wanted a picture of the back of them. I was tempted to tell them that this is how I wanted to remember this day--with them finally leaving me!

Before they parted ways, they had to put their necklaces together.





Melody was ready to hop right in, but couldn't reach her backpack hook. Those girls are great at teamwork.



Dixie was a bit more reluctant. When I say 'a bit' I really mean that she glued herself to the hallway wall and would not budge.



After some intense nudging, she was ready to face her day.



I spent the next hour and a half having coffee with the other mommies. After I get this posted, I will leisurely clean my house in the gleeful knowledge that, at least for a little while, it will stay that way.