It's All Elementary

Here’s a little something about me you should know - I dropped out of Preschool. They had me climb up into the loft for the class picture, and while I was up there I found out I was afraid of heights. They couldn’t convince me to climb down on my own, and I didn’t trust them enough to jump down into their arms. Eventually the teacher climbed up and carried me down. I cried in front of everyone and never went back.

Mom said I wasn’t allowed to quit Kindergarten, so instead I spent my time at the sand and water table they had in the classroom. I can close my eyes and feel the cold, damp sand in my hands. If you got the mixture just right, it would ooze through your fingers when you squeezed it. That made going to school much easier.

In 1st Grade I struggled learning to tie my shoes. I practiced with my mom, and my dad, and my brothers at home. I couldn’t get the hang of it. At school, my best friend would tie them for me because I was too embarrassed to ask the teacher. Eventually, he showed me how do it myself. Bunny ears made a lot more sense than loop, swoop, and pull.

When I got to 2nd Grade they divided us into reading groups by skill level. I started in the Red group even though I thought I should be in the Blue one. Later that year we took a field trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum and everyone was impressed when I read the upside down words on the Going and Coming painting.

I had a crush on the girl who sat next to me in 3rd Grade. We talked to each other so much that they separated our desks. She moved to Texas that summer when school ended.

By 4th Grade I moved on. I had a front flip haircut with bleached tips, and those pants that zipped off into shorts. One day at lunch I told all my friends I was allergic to tuna fish, even though it wasn’t true. I don’t know why I told them that, but I never ended up confessing the truth.

At the end of 5th Grade a girl one the bus home asked me what it was like having divorced parents. She had just found out hers were going through one, and she didn’t know what to expect. I remember feeling deeply sorry for her. So I didn’t tell her the truth either.

In 6th Grade I was deemed mature enough to put the music projects in the school’s display case by myself, while everyone else was in class. It was built into the wall in the front lobby and had these two big sliding glass doors. I accidentally shattered them when I closed one too hard. I still have the scar on my arm from it. They decided not to replace the doors after that.

Well, anyways, now you know something about a little me.

-CKaz