You tell yourself you’re gonna do things differently with the second kid. You’re not gonna rush off to sterilize their binky every time it falls to the floor, you’re not gonna worry about having them hang out with another baby who’s got so much snot running down his face that he looks like a glazed donut. And you think sending them off to school that first day is gonna be a piece of cake the second time around. Well today was Alex’s first day of preschool and it was far from a piece of cake. Though there was cake involved.
Just like the day Arden started school there, three years before, I felt like I needed a stiff drink when I walked out the door. Alex was totally fine; she had a boatload of new toys to play with and just as many new opportunities to stain her clothes. She waved “goodbye” to me no problem; it was me that was a wreck. With Arden I was nervous leaving her there, letting someone else be in control of her daily destiny. I was also on edge because Arden had to go up and down a flight of stairs to get to her classroom and she didn’t know how to climb stairs yet. This time I didn’t have any of those worries. Well, the stair thing still bothered me a bit, but what really got to me was that this was the end of an era. The last child I’m ever going to have, assuming we have no accidents between now and when I get the boys snipped next summer, is no longer a baby. She’s officially a preschooler now and she’s going to learn very quickly how to be independent and no longer need her daddy the way she did before. The magic of seeing her discover the world around her will soon fade.
But today was also a great day. Arden is still on winter break thanks to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s three freakin’ week holiday schedule and with Alex being in school it was a rare occasion for me to hang out with just Arden, so I decided to do something special with her. I decided to take her to the American Girl Store Café and have a special father-daughter lunch with her.
I’ve always been against the whole American Girl thing (the commercialism, the racial stereotypes with their “historic” dolls), but man do they know how to make a little girl and her dad feel special inside that café. First off you need reservations and with those reservations you need to check in fifteen minutes early, probably so there’s some guaranteed shopping time while you wait. And of course we shopped. But the procedure helps make the meal feel like an event. That and having your daughter dress in a matching outfit with her doll. Once it’s time to be seated, you and your doll(s) (there was a kid there with five dolls) are escorted to your table where your doll is placed in their very own tableside booster. Then you’re served warm sticky buns, followed by fruit skewers and crudité with ranch and honey mustard dipping sauces. Then comes the main course. Arden had “butterfly pasta” (bowtie pasta) and I had the turkey dinner and I gotta say, it was damn good. I washed it down with a peach bellini and Arden a Shirley Temple. Dessert consisted of chocolate mousse in a flowerpot, a frosted sugar cookie and a heart-shaped piece of cake. We were both given all three of those. And to keep you and your daughter entertained you’re given a little box of questions to ask between courses. Things like, “Would you rather be able to fly or turn invisible? And why?” Arden chose invisible so she could spy on her boyfriend and kiss him when he isn’t looking. For the record Arden doesn’t have a boyfriend, at least not a requited one. She's obsessed with a little boy named Goetz who refuses to kiss her. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience, but what was really great was hearing for the rest of the day, “This is the best day ever.”
After lunch we tried to shake off our sugar comas and went to pick up Alex at school. We arrived just as naptime was getting over. As we were walking down the hall we overheard Alex’s teacher (who just happened to be Arden’s first teacher) pretending to call me, in order to calm Alex down. We were told she was great all day, but when she woke up from her nap fifteen minutes prior she was a little confused and started crying for me. I know it sounds cruel, but I couldn’t help but smile to myself because my baby still needed me. At least for today. So between sending Alex to school today and spending time with Arden, it was kinda the best day ever for me too.
Photos: Top, Arden and Alex posing before Alex's first day of school; Bottom, Arden at the American Girl Store Café .
