I was sound asleep this morning when two little hands began patting my forehead. I opened my eyes to find Isaac’s face about an inch from mine.
“Mama,” he whispered. “Did you know Johnny Cash is a criminal?”
“What? Huh? Why?” I said. My first thought was, you mean drug possession?
“He shot a man! That’s why he’s in Fulsom Prison.”
I KNEW I should have seen Walk the Line. I was not prepared for this conversation, in terms of data. So I’m lying there groggily wracking my brains. Did Johnny Cash really shoot someone? No—he was just a drug addict. And he wasn’t incarcerated in Fulsom Prison, just there to play the concert.
“No, honey,” I explained. “He was just there for the day. And he didn’t really shoot anyone. It’s just a song he was singing. Not a true story. Just a song.”
“Yes it IS true!” Isaac insisted. “He shot him just to watch him die. Why he shot him just to watch him die?”
And so began day two of Isaac’s new career at school, with me half asleep and trying to explain the difference between fiction and nonfiction while also defending Johnny Cash’s honor and trying to counteract a widespread notion that life is cheap.
Yesterday, day one, Isaac just had to go to school for one hour to get his feet wet . (Once established it will only be three hours a day anyway, half day preschool.) He’s been expressing a fair amount of trepidation about the whole concept, insisting that he’ll go to school when he’s big, but he’s not big yet. Yesterday as we neared the school building, he suggested that we just “drive by” instead of going in. This being a downgrade from his earlier idea, “just go in an say hi, then leave.”
Turns out I was having my own weird school anxiety come up. I had two bad dreams the night before about being late!
The critical moment was when we had to part ways at the door of his classroom. The teacher, Mr Johann (the nicest man, apparently Dutch, with very twinkly, crinkly eyes), was greeting each child, shaking hands, and welcoming him/her into the room. The children in the hall dwindled, until only Isaac and his little friend Henry were left. Isaac started hiding behind my butt and/or between and under my legs. It was hard to extricate him. Finally I asked Mr. Johann if I could just walk in for a moment, which he said was fine. So I went in with Isaac and tried to interest him in all manner of wonders that are in there. Finally he did get intrigued by the tiny fridge and the snack-having process and I said good bye. Seemed pretty smooth actually. Ben took off from work to see this all through, and so we went to have a cup of tea nearby and kill the hour until it was time to pick Isaac up again.
When we came back, we decided to peek in the window and see what was going on. I saw Isaac, seemingly trying to escape out the door into the hallway. The other kids were all toiling away busily and Isaac had his nose pressed against the glass on the far side of the room. Then, unfortunately, he turned and saw me! I slipped away, but I think that he melted down at that point. Luckily, there was only five more minutes until freedom!
Today, he was embraced in the hall by this cute little girl called Sage. They sat next to each other on these tiny chairs and chatted. She seemed very fond of Isaac, repeatedly hugging and kissing him. They practiced raising their eyebrows and other facial expressions. She said he was his baby and he protested that he’s NOT a baby! I’m especially glad that he’s getting to know Sage. Her mother is also enormously pregnant, with twins. So Isaac and Sage can have a new-baby support group this fall, when both of their lives are up-ended around the same time.
The parting at the door this time was almost completely seamless. Isaac hid behind my butt a little bit, but soon Mr. Johann coaxed him over to shake hands, and before I knew it, Isaac disappeared into the classroom without the slightest fuss. A group of new parents gathered in this little break room to chat and kill time. Soon, before I knew it, the morning was all done. Isaac was prancing out and yelling, “I learned how to grind coffee! They teached me how!”
So, we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Basically it looks like he’s taking to it quite well and his new life is launched.
Meanwhile, my new life is launched also. The doula, Barbara, mother of 7, started yesterday. She’s a warm and plump little person. From her golden sandals to her golden braid, she sort of reminds me of a gnome wife, in the best possible sense. She’s calm and mellow and unfazed by anything that Isaac can come up with. I mean—7 kids! I don’t think he can think up anything she hasn’t already dealt with. Also, she bustles around. I made list of things to do, time permitting, and she so got so much folding, cleaning, and tidying done, it was incredible to behold. I sat on the couch all afternoon, napping, reading, whatever. Wow!
However, when she left at 5:00, Isaac went insane. He tore though the house like a natural disaster and I found it basically impossible to keep him from destroying everything in his path, while also making dinner. After two short hours of that I felt utterly wrung out again, as if all the previous resting were negated. So this time period between Barbara’s departure and Ben’s return is something that still needs work. Perhaps we just need to eat more take-out.
Today, of course, the morning out and about exhausted me. But I’ve been lazyin’ around all afternoon, and yet there are clean sheets magically on the beds and the laundry beast seems almost completely on its way to being tamed! Seems we’re off to a good start on all fronts.
We took some pregnant lady pics yesterday. I’ll attempt to post one…