T'was the Night Before Kindergarten

I think Owen is ready for his big day. He's been bathed (scrubbed, really); he endured another of my buzz-cuts; and I actually succeeded in talking him out of wearing the same clothes he's been wearing since Friday. His bag has been packed and, envisioning him getting off the bus at school in a state of incomprehensible sobbing, I've printed his teacher's name in large letters on his backpack. At least that way he'll wind up in the right classroom. Mike ran out tonight for a Transformers lunchbox, deciding at the last minute that the Horizon Organics lunchbox we'd planned to send him with was kind of, well, lame. And finally, I scoured those stinky sandals he's been wearing all summer so that he doesn't become "the kid with smelly feet" on day one. He may be "the kid with the homemade haircut", but I can live with that.

I believe Ellie is ready for her first day of pre-school, too, although I'm sure that will change the minute she realizes I'm leaving her there. It's gonna be painful (for Mrs. Fidler, mostly), but it will be fine. Owen went through the same separation issues, and now he scolds me for merely acknowledging him on the playground.

So the real question is, am I ready to send both my kids off to school? And the answer is, we will see. Just in case, I've decided I can go one day without mascara.