Yesterday I had the pleasure and privilege of attending my first ever "Grandparents Day" (as a grandparent). Our sweet little Anna-bug is in kindergarten at St. Paul's. I was fortunate to get a couple hours off work so I could join her class, along with grandpa Andy and great-grandma Esther. Jane would have loved to have been there, but with a new job and all it just wasn't workable.
The day was somewhat complicated by the fact that there was a fog delay. So instead of being at the school from 8:30-10:45, it was just 10:30-11:30. It was further thrown into turmoil that Carrie locked herself and the kids out of the house with no car keys when she went to take Anna to school. Fortunately Drew just happened to be covering for my at my facility, so I was able to take his key and give to Carrie, and then I just took Anna to school. She was only about 5 minutes late.
So I got to take the granddaughter to school for the first time. She had to show me where and how to enter the building, and where her classroom was. Of course this was after she found me a parking spot right in front of the school. :)
I really like this school, and her teacher seems to be nothing less than spectacular (Ms. German). The grandparents (and other VIP's) sat at the tables with their child. At first we listened to the daily Scripture reading and prayer over the intercom. Then the teacher shared a little. As she said, Kindergarten is fun because the child starts as a preschooler and ends as a first-grader. So a lot of changes take place during this time of their lives. I've actually already noticed changes with Anna (positive).
Anna apparently shares a table with another girl who is even more shy than she is. We sat and watched as the teacher had the children do this exercise where they brought two items in a paper sack and they had to rhyme. The child gave clues until someone from the class guessed what was in the bag. I was so impressed with Anna because after the first few kids (while she was still be shy), she eventually joined and would raise her arm up high when she had a guess. I think she answered like 4 times (with the correct answer too). It was so nice to see her participating and talking and interacting with the other kids. Then they played a game where they rolled dice to help them draw a picture. She is an excellent draw-er and color-er. Then it was over.
I left a very proud grandfather. I suppose I will always be a little partial to the first grandchild, and only granddaughter (so far). She is such a sweetie.
When I left the school I then ventured down to Jane's place of work and saw her office for the first time. It's pretty cool. It's on the fifth floor of a downtown building. She has her own little cubicle with 2 windows that look over Ewing Street toward the St. Francis Performing Arts building. We went to lunch downtown and then both headed back to work.
So the day started off pretty well. Unfortunately I then had to go to work, and it was pretty much downhill from there.