Today was Ruby's first day of school. I was excited/sad/anxious/lonely/etc. In other words, I was a mess. Do you know who was not a mess? Miss Ruby. She was excited/happy/ready. She didn't even want me to walk her to her classroom this morning. (I did anyway. I wouldn't miss that moment of goodbye for anything...)
I held it together this morning until I saw some friends from church in the hallway and they asked how I was doing. My eyes welled up. When I got in the car, the tears finally broke free.
Enough about me, though. Would you like to know how her day went? Splendidly. She enjoyed every second. Well, ALMOST every second. I picked her up from school and then took her for ice cream so we could discuss her day in detail. It's funny how things come up. For instance, when I asked how her day was, she said, "It was good." Nothing else. When I asked a few more questions, she gave me short little answers. No detail. So then I asked her more DETAILED questions, and that's when she started talking.
Me: "What did you learn about today?"
Ruby: "I don't think I learned anything."
Me: "Well, did your teacher talk to you guys about rules, or anything?"
Ruby: "Oh, yes. We have rules in our class."
Me: "Like what?"
Ruby: "Like, no screaming in the building. And the very best number one rule is to always try your best."
Me: "Those are really good rules to remember."
Ruby: "Yes, but I was raising my hand and my teacher wouldn't call on me to tell her."
Me: "Tell her what?"
Ruby: "That that's not true. That the very best number one rule is to always choose the right."
Me: "That's true. Always choose the right. But in your classroom, your teacher wants you to always try your best, so that's an important rule, too."
Ruby agreed to that.
Then, later in the conversation:
Me: "Who did you sit by in class?"
Ruby: "I don't know. They didn't tell me their names."
Me: "Well did you ask them?"
Ruby: "No, we're not supposed to talk in class EVER. If you talk, you get sent to the little hard chair."
Me: "Oh. Did you have to sit in the little hard chair?"
Ruby: "Umm...yes."
Me: "How did that feel? Were you a little embarrassed?"
Ruby: "Yes, and a little nervous, too."
Me: "Oh, well I bet you'll try harder tomorrow to follow the rules, then, huh? Did anyone else get sent to the little hard chair?"
Ruby: "Only 2 people. Me and a boy."
Oh dear. In trouble already. At least it didn't effect her overall day. She still wants to go back.
