Sophie Q – First Grader

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Sophie. My Mom and Dad bought her this beautiful Christening gown and we tried it on to see how it fit. She feel asleep while we got her dressed, and I got the idea to lay my sleeping beauty in the ivy at my parents’ home. I took one picture before the battery died. Several of my friends and family have found the photo to be unsettling, as if it is a death picture. One of my grandmother’s won’t display the photo because of it. I don’t see it, but I know others do. It's still one of my favorites.

My daughter’s been on vacation for nearly a week. She came home this afternoon around 3 p.m. and was glad to be home. Supper was ready when Mom hit the door. Don’t elevate me too highly; it was Pizza Hut after all, but it was supper just the same. After eats, my wife had it in her head to play with her daughter and spend quality time together. It’s been nearly a week you know.

Yes, well let me tell you about that. My first grader couldn’t care less. Not 30 minutes after dinner did the neighbor kids hit the door. They love to come to our home and play. We have a tree house and a kitty and toys. One girl says she likes to come to our house because it is so clean and put up. If you dear readers could only hear the snickers of my family and friends at that statement. My house is in a perpetual state of organized clutter and I make no apologies. I’m fine with it, but it’s by no means clean and put up. I’m sure my Mother is praying for the child right now.

We could turn the kids away and focus only on the family, but what Sophie really wants is to play with them. Some kids don’t have friends. Some kids can’t make friends. And when they do find someone who is nice to them, it can turn into a dependent relationship that ends up in heartache. I’m lucky that my daughter, unlike my wife and I, has lots of school friends early on.

My wife is a burn survivor and her facial scarring and multiple hospitalizations was a hindrance to friend-making. Me, I was big and loud and talked all the time. When it came to wrestling around I always hurt other kids because I just didn’t know my own body. I had friends, but not many although that changed as I got older. So the sound of kids wrestling and playing and jumping around is welcome to me. It means my daughter is developing relationships, maybe even meaningful ones. It is funny that most of her friends are older than her.

Monday is a school day for my Cubbie girl. She will be in first grade; soon she will be a senior. I guess we better make the best of the weekend before first grade starts and her senior year ends. For now I'll just focus on getting her through first grade.