We had Pumpkin’s annual parent-teacher conference last
week. When scheduling, the teacher
indicated that the class was “pass/fail,” and the old feelings of angst and
competitiveness rose in my chest as though I were back in law school. Pass/Fail?
Really? 2-year olds? I was as nervous walking in as if I were refreshing
my browser screen over and over the day grades or bar exam results were due.
Of course, we had nothing to worry about – our girl’s a
genius. I mean, that isn’t exactly what
the teacher said but I’m certain that is what she meant. While Pumpkin can’t pedal a bike forward (she
has backwards down) or hop on one leg (honestly, who can), she is excelling and
amazing as always. And let’s be honest,
I still can’t skip and, while it took an intervention in the principal’s office
by the ‘rents for me to pass kindergarten, the inability to skip has not
impeded my educational or professional pursuits in any way. So, quite frankly, I’m not too concerned about
the hopping and pedaling. Besides, I think
they HAVE to find something negative to say so the meeting isn’t like “your two
year old is perfect in every way.”
Although, again, that’s basically what I heard her say.
All kidding aside, our first official parent-teacher conference
felt like a milestone – not for Pumpkin as much as for us. I felt like our parenting was being graded in
way. I also felt like we were given some
glimpse into who our little girl is going to be. While she has the verbal skills of a kid
twice her age (ride in the car with her if you don’t believe me – she will talk
your ear off about anything and everything), she is also really quite
introverted and bookish. She has a deep
sense of things that she can’t even articulate and sees the world in her own unique
way. In other words, she is a little
person. Of course we knew this (in
theory at least), but to see it objectively quantified and analyzed was
interesting. To see who and what she is
when we are not around and to really get to know the little person we have been
entrusted to raise was really neat.
After this meeting I was feeling particularly like I should
encourage her education and so I planned a big weekend outing to the local
library. This would be Pumpkin’s first trip. I had daydreams of hushed whispers over some
of my old favorite children’s stories. I
looked forward to sharing Amelia Bedelia, Eloise, Judy Blume and all the other
young girl classics I could recall. When
we arrived at the library, if I could skip I would have skipped right in the
door. Pumpkin was excited too, asking me
hourly all weekend when we were going to the “lib-ary.” We get inside and Pumpkin gasps and exclaims
(loudly) – “LOOK AT ALL THE BOOKS!” She
was excited! Loud, but excited. Yay!
So was I (excited – not loud)!
Being 2 and all, she bee lines for the first shelf. Well, I don’t want us to commit to anything right
there before we ‘ve had a chance to make it through all the books. I wanted us to be sure we found the perfect
selections. But I was no match for the
determination of the little girl who found the almost-colorless gray hardback
entitled “Blueberries for the Queen.”
The cover had a picture of a very colorless little boy dressed like a
gray knight. Seriously? Thousands of books and this is what she
chooses? I tried to dissuade her. I pulled out every colorful, exciting, girly
book I could find. I tried classics, I tried
newly released, I tried biographies. I
even read from the jacket of the book, which began with this snoozer: “In 1942,
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, living in exile after the Nazi invasion of
her country spent the summer in Lee, Massachusetts…” In case you were still awake after that
riveting introduction, it was closely followed by the words any fiction aficionado
dreads: “The following is based on a
true story…”
Those of you who know me understand that I would never
voluntarily read historical fiction – especially not historical fiction that is
not fiction. Queen Wilhelmina? The Netherlands? Massachusetts? Nazis?
The most redeeming and exciting quality this book possessed was the word
blueberries (also the most colorful part of the book, as far as I could tell).
But there wasn’t a book in the library that would release
this one from Pumpkin’s clutches. I was,
at a minimum, able to convince her to get TWO books; though, that, too, just
ended up being further disappointment for me since she chose for her second book
a story written by hippies about a hippy cat named Pete who drove a
minibus. Those of you who know me know
that it’s a real toss-up for me to decide which I am LESS likely to be
interested in – historical fiction about the Netherlands or hippies? To make myself feel better I made her rent
Clifford the Big Red Dog DVD for my enjoyment.
Needless to say we got home with our library books and she
was so proud and thrilled that I couldn’t help but look forward to reading them
with and to her. And, as much as it
pains me to admit after my absurd attempt at hustling a deal in the children’s
section of the library, Blueberries for the Queen wasn’t half bad (although
Pumpkin did fall asleep towards the end, I can admit that may not have actually
had anything to do with the storyline).
So, our sweet little Pumpkin is a real, live person with her
own thoughts and wants and dreams. And
she continues to be an incredible big sister to her little Bug. The way those girls look at each other still
melts my heart – one adoring, the other doting.
I wish I could freeze these moments to play back when they are stealing each
other’s clothes in the teen years.
So it looks like odds are on me having a bookworm and a
class clown and I’ll take ‘em. You all can guess who each of them takes after
*wink*
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