Lili, the Pre-K Kid!

Lili went to school for the first time yesterday, a member of the Kansas City School District's new "Pre-K For All" program. Karen and I were both anxious about how she would take the first day of school, but we needn't have worried. From the moment she got to her new classroom she seemed liked she belonged.
At first she did a bit of exploring as the other students continued to arrive. To the left of the classroom was a reading area marked off with sheer, mosquito netting-like drapes which Lili said looked like a bedroom in the middle of the room. She, like all the other students, also stopped to look at the rabbit cage (and, like all the other students, tell the nearest person "There's a rabbit in there!"). Then she sat down at one of the big round tables in the middle of the room and ate one of the breakfast donuts that her teacher, Miss Jennifer, passed out to everyone. When school time officially began, the students went out into the hall for a couple minutes. Lili was the first in line.
What made me happiest, I think, was what happened when she returned. As she and her students filed into the class, Miss Jennifer asked all her pupils to join her on the rug at the back of the room. Lili walked over to me and gave me a hug, then pushed me away as she walked quickly to the new activity. Both as a metaphor and as a real event, I think that's the best that any parent could ask for.