1st Day of Kindergarten

Mary at Owlhaven is having a Land's End Backpack giveaway. In order to enter, she asked us to post a memory from a 1st day of school. So here is what I remember from my 1st day of kindergarten.

I had watched my older brother and sister go to school every day. I was so excited to be joining them. Although I knew the route to walk, my mom drove me that first day. She stopped in front of the building.

"Are you sure you want to walk home?" Mom queried.
"Yes, I want to walk home. I know the way."

I got out of the car, looked both ways before crossing, then walked across to the very large building. The steps leading up to the doors looked much steeper than they ever had from the car, but I climbed them anyway.

There it was. The kindergarten room. Mrs. Preston, with her white hair pulled back in a bun, stood at the door greeting the children. I found my desk, opened it up, and placed my nickel inside. The nickel was for a carton of milk that we got from the janitor.

It was a busy first day. We said the pledge of Allegiance, played on the blacktop playground at recess, took a nap afterwards, sang songs, & had a snack. When it was time to go, we lined up in two lines. Boys in one, girls in the other. We then went over all of the safety rules, since most everyone walked home from school.

Look both ways before crossing the street.
Walk on the left, facing traffic.

Then it was time to go. Out the building, down the steps, and those of us going East turned left. Before us was a huge hill. It wasn't as thrilling to walk home as I thought it would be. I didn't remember that I would be walking alone by the time I reached the crest.

Down the hill, turn right, past the Reverend's home, then left. Up the long street towards the Catholic school...I was getting tired. Home was still pretty far. It was hot. I had took off my blue sweater and began tying it around my waist. I wondered how I could get home faster. Just as I tightened the arms of my sweater to keep it from slipping, I had a wonderful idea. I took it off, laid it on the ground. Sitting down on the soft fabric, I closed my eyes and imagined flying the rest of the way home on my magic carpet.

With my eyes still squeezed shut, I said the only magic words I knew, "abra cadabra, fly magic carpet, fly me home." And I waited. I'm not sure how long I sat there waiting in the street. There was no sidewalk at this point of my journey.

Later that day, my sister and brother told me of the shortcuts when walking, after they laughed at the long way I'd gone. I was glad I hadn't mentioned my not-so-magic carpet.