And then she'll come home from the first day happy and singing to herself, answering "so how was it?" with the usual monosyllabic answers that equate to "green board, all systems go for launch," or maybe the town crier calling out "All is well!" in the depths of the night.
School this year fit relatively well into this pattern -- as expected -- with no actual drama but plenty of concern (especially about math), all of which evaporated into "Good!" when asked how the first couple of days of school were. Miri even told me that, based on the first couple of days of school, she expects 5th grade to be a good year for her. (It don't hurt none that a couple of her best friends who had different teachers last year are once again classmates this year.) She's even part of the Patrol crew this year, although her age will keep her working with the youngest kids in the school rather than outside at a street crossing. (Dude, do you wanna tell 'em about how worried she was that she wouldn't be able to memorize the Patrol Pledge well enough to get her badge even after she had memorized the Patrol Pledge? [I think you just did.] Yes! My job is done here.)
Of course, the Pipsqueak also managed to blow her uncle's mind by casually remarking, in between bites of a cheese stick as I drove her to one of her dance classes (ballet?) last week, that she would be graduating at the end of this year. I had to stop and think for a moment, then realized what she meant. I remember school being structured K-6 as elementary, 7-9 as junior high, and 10-12 as high school -- but these days, elementary school is K-5, junior high is 6-8 and senior high is 9-12... so yeah, she will actually have a mini graduation ceremony(!) at the end of this school year. (That strange sound you hear in the background is me getting a lot older at an extremely accelerated pace.)
I have the usual "First Day of School" photos that AJ took in the morning (plus a bonus pic from the preceding Friday's open house when Miri wore her Patrol belt for the first time), and I was going to post one or two here but then I had another thought...
I'm a member of the Facebook group that replaced the old "Rumor Queen" BBS & forum that so many adoptive families relied on in the early 2000s, and it was (as usual) chock-full of photos of kids on their first day of school this year. Some were super-cute littles, a goodly number were kids in junior & senior high, and a few were even from colleges, all accompanied by some "remember when" comments & notes. Those comments & notes (along with the hitherto-unforeseen graduation year status of 5th grade) got me thinking, so instead of adding yet another regular First Day of School photo, I posted something that I'll close out by sharing with y'all.
She started 5th grade today, as a Patrol. She's learning to play the flute, is in Advanced Math, is a member of her dance studio's competitive dance team, performs classic Chinese dances in public (with some of her closest friends) several times a year, is teaching Grandma how to send & receive text messages on an iPhone, and works hard to keep Grandpa in line when he tries to eat too many sugary things.
But somehow I still see her like this... 8-}
I know there's still a lot of catching up to do... so I'll see y'all again soon! Wishing everyone a great semester (regardless of whether or not you or family are in school)...
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