Today my son jumped out of bed when he heard me get in the shower at 6:30 AM and came into the bathroom just minutes later already dressed with a big smile on his face. He was excited to start school! We woke up his sister and got her dressed then headed downstairs. He quickly consumed his Cheerios and orange juice, ran upstairs to brush his teeth, then put on a belt to hold his shorts up, grabbed his lunchbox, and darted out the front door to the truck to buckle himself in for the ride to school.
We met Mama down the street from the school since she was coming from the gym around the corner. Walking up to the school you could see he was sizing up the crowd with intensity. This school is much bigger than his preschool and way many more kids!
Right after I took this photo the batteries in my camera died. I brought the pocket Nikon L12 since it also shoots video and I was hoping to get some of him walking away to his class. While we were waiting in the gym with all of the other kindergartners and their parents I was able to turn it on and shoot one more before it decided to die completely.
It's probably a good thing the camera died after that shot. It was pretty much the last smile we saw from him. When the time came for his class to leave the gym and go to their room (without parents) he started to walk away then turned around and darted back to us all sad and not wanting to go. A new big school and all those unfamiliar faces (only one kid from his preschool is there but not in his class) surely frightened him a little. Leaving Mom & Dad for the whole day to continue his journey into boyhood is a big step that is scary and exciting for us all.
On the way home from dropping him off my daughter said she missed him. She'll probably forget about that next week when she starts preschool for the first time. That will be another frightening and exciting day as she begins her journey out into the world of school.
We have been going to the pool this Summer at the gym but today is only the second day my son has wanted to swim without his life vest on. Who knew all it would take is a snorkel? He hasn't taken swim lessons yet but from the looks of it I think he's going to do just fine. Must be in his genes.
but an off-duty Travis County Sheriff's Deputy verbally assaulted me
in front of my kids today in a parking lot at HEB. This guy was stopped
near the front doors at HEB to pick up somebody so I passed him on the
left. He didn't care for that much apparently.
He also didn't
think much of the way I pulled into a parking spot after dropping my
wife off near another front door of the store. I saw a front row spot
and pulled down the row to get it so she would see where we were when
she came back out. The spot was on a row for cars coming the other way
(there were none coming at that time) so I pulled in, backed up, and
straightened out the car in the spot.
A few minutes went by, I
loaded a CD to play, then I heard a *tap tap* on my window. I rolled it
down to see what this man wanted and that's when he laid into me about
my driving and parking skills. He told me he was an off-duty Sheriff's
Deputy and continued to yell at me. I told him to stop talking to me
like that in front of my kids and he needed to leave. That's when he
decided to start cussing and told me if he had a squad car nearby he
would call it.
That made me mad and I almost unbuckled my seat
belt and got out of the car to get in his face. Instead I said, "You
definitely do not talk to me like that in front of my kids and now you need to
leave!"
I got his name and badge # to file a complaint. He said, "I'm taking
your plate # with me, too," to which I replied, "Please do!"
Sure,
I could have driven around to get that parking spot from the right
direction. But did I deserve to be verbally assaulted by an off-duty
deputy in front of my kids for it?
