Kindergarten (Memory) Round Up

It seems like a lot of people around me have a kid that's off to kindergarten this year, including my neice who now goes by the name of Belle due to the popularity of her name.

I have sweet memories of being the ONLY person that could get her to sleep when she was 2 months old and in the throes of the-real-deal-ain't-nothin-gonna-stop-her-cryin colic. It seemed that Auntie Anna's shoulder was just the place to be propped up on ... and sleep she did. She'd zonk out for a solid 20 minutes; bliss for her parents, no doubt.

And now Belle is old enough for Kindergarten.
And, I hope she doesn't have the same name confusion I did.

My first day of Kindergarten, I walked into a room full of desks and everyone's names written out on construction paper smiley faces. My name wasn't there.

Ann hadn't picked up her smiley face yet. Ms. Jicca told me I could use it and while I silently took it from her the internal dialogue was screaming that this wasn't my name and that Ann was going to come in and want her name and THEN WHAT?! To calm my fears, she came over and put an "a" at the end which - yes - did appear to be my name but I knew, just knew, that if Ann ever showed up, she'd be mad that I took her name tag and I'd be out of a desk

With no where else to go.

(In case you're wondering, Ann never did show up.)

Note to teachers: Double check your spelling.
Note to therapist: Root of anxiety issues? We'll discuss.