AJ spent much of the morning bouncing around the house saying, �Oh, boy! First day of school! First day of school!� He couldn�t sit still long enough to eat a proper breakfast. He�d have a bite and then do a couple of laps around the kitchen table before sitting down again.

He was very disappointed when he discovered that his dad and I weren�t dropping him off. We arrived at the same time as his friend D., his favorite from his class last year. We had thought D. was going to be in a different class this year and had spent some time explaining this to AJ, who was disappointed. The two of them were so excited to see each other that they ran up to each other and yelled �HI!� about six inches from each others� face. Their conversation went something like this.

AJ: �Hi, D.�

D: �Hi, AJ.� [moment of silence as they ponder where to go from here.]

D: �I can do this.� [pulls shirt over head, hiding face]

AJ: �Me too.� [AJ does the same thing. The two stagger around like monsters, nearly knocking down a terrified looking little girl.]

D: �I saw a freight train.�

AJ: �You did?� [Slaps hands on side of face in amazement]. Did you go inside?

D: It was at the train station. It had boxcars � those are the big ones.

AJ: Was it really, really, REALLY long?

D: Dinosaurs! ROOOAAAARRR!!! Dinosaurs, dinosaurs dinosaurs! [starts running around the room with arms extended like an airplane]

AJ: Dinosaurs! [jumps up and down]

Welcome to the conversational world of the three-year-old where life is one big non sequitur after another. Soon, the classroom door opened and the kids sprinted in and took every single toy off of every single shelf within about 30 seconds. AJ was also pleased to see that T. was in his class again. I think AJ has a little crush on T. Last year he would occasionally remark, �I like T. She has pretty hair.�

The new teachers, Mrs. K. and Mrs. S. seem great. They both spent a lot of time going around the room and attempting to talk to each child individually. Most of the children, however, were fairly uncooperative. Dazzled by an array of new toys and new faces, they pretty much grunted and went back to what they were doing.

On the way home, AJ and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and he spent most of the time jogging up to everyone he saw and informing them, �I had fun at school today.�

And if this morning didn't offer enough juvenile anarchy, this evening we�ll be attending a middle school production of Annie, in which two of our nieces are playing roles. I�m hoping I can live through one more �Tomorrow.� If last year�s production of Cinderella is any measure, it should be extremely entertaining, but probably not for any of the reasons the performers intended.

[There was a late 2nd entry yesterday. Click back for maternal guilt.]

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