Kindergarten Tears

I took Grace to Kindergarten for the first time today and neither one of us cried. There were some Kindergarten tears, however, but they were shed last night at tuck-in-time. All day yesterday, but especially last night, was like Christmas Eve to Grace. She could barely contain her unbridled excitement upon beginning this new thing called Kindergarten. We went back-to-school-shopping yesterday and last night packed her backpack and lunch and picked out the clothes she was going to wear. She was screaming and squealing at the top of her lungs at the notion that the first day of Kindergarten at Perry Harrison was right around the corner. All she had to do was to go to sleep and it would all begin when she woke up. After several stories and a delayed but eventual emphatic lights-out and no-more talking, Grace began to cry. Between sobs, I barely made out that she couldn't fall asleep and she wanted it to be time to go to Kindergarten. The emotional build-up was weighing on Johnny too and from across the bed he asked Grace tenderly, "Grace? Why are you crying? Are you crying because you're sad that you won't see me tomorrow?" I shot a wide-eyed look his way, and he said to me, "I'm talking to Grace, Mommy." I whispered to Johnny, "Are you sad that you won't see Grace at Spanish For Fun tomorrow?" And he whispered back "yes." That's when I began to tear up.

The whole exchange for some reason reminded me of a story my mom used to tell about Daniel when he was a little boy and witnessed a car running over a dog on my grandmother's street one time when we were visiting her. Later that evening when she was tucking him into bed, Daniel said, "Mama, I'm not still thinking about that little dog." Of course he was thinking about that little dog, and of course Johnny was sad about not seeing Grace today at school.