Snapshots

What I Learned in Kindergarten

Mommy said I had to go to Kindergarten so I could learn. I told her I already know a lot, but she said I'll know even more after I'm done. I'm not so sure, but I'll try it.

The first thing I do when I get to Kindergarten is get a nametag. I already know how to write my whole entire name, Kendra Lynn Davis, because I've practiced and practiced and practiced, and I'm excited to show how good I am at it, and I wait patiently in line behind the other boys and girls with their mommies and daddies until I finally get to the front of the line, and I tell the teacher, Miss Little (which is a silly name because she isn't little), that I can write my own name, Kendra Lynn Davis, and she says that's very nice, but then she hands me a nametag sticker with my name already written on it – Kendra D. ­– and I look at it for a while all confused before Mommy moves me away from the line. She starts to help me put my nametag on, but I say no and do it myself.

Mommy takes me to a yellow chair at a round table. I want the red chair, but she says I have to sit in the yellow chair because it has my name on it and that some other girl named Holly is going to sit in the red chair. I tell her we can switch the chairs, but Mommy tells me to just sit down and start coloring one of the pictures on the table. I'm excited because coloring is my favorite. She gives me a kiss and tells me to have a good day. I'm already busy deciding what colors I want to use in my picture, so I just give her a quick hug and tell her bye-bye. A girl who must be Holly comes over with her mommy and sits in the red chair. Lucky.

The pictures are all the same: Humpty Dumpty wearing a polka-dot shirt, a bowtie, pants, and shoes. I was hoping maybe there would be more pretty pictures to color, like ponies, but at least I can color his outfit. Eggs are white, so I don't color Humpty Dumpty's body. I do give him blue eyes and red cheeks. His shirt is red and the dots and shoes are blue. His pants and his bowtie are green.

I smile and look at my finished Humpty Dumpty. I did a very good job. I didn't color outside the lines even once. I look over at Holly's picture. She scribbled orange all over her Humpty Dumpty's face and hands, red all over the shirt and pants, and colored the dots yellow over the red scribbles, getting red on the tip of the yellow marker. It makes me mad. She didn't even color his shoes or his bowtie.

Miss Little says that our Humpty Dumpties will go on the wall above the big white board. If we do something bad, like disobey the teacher, our Humpty Dumpty will turn on his side. If we do something bad again, the Humpty Dumpty will turn upside down. If we do something bad again, the Humpty Dumpty will turn on his other side. And if we do something bad one more time after that, the Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall and you go to Principal's office. Then the Humpty Dumpties are all turned right-side up again the next day. I think it's silly that anyone would do something bad four times in a row. I'm sure I won't even do something bad one time in a row.

Next is Story Time. The Story Time Rug has a bunch of squares in different colors. We can choose a color to sit on. I want a red one. A boy named Joshua jumps up to run to a square, but Miss Little stops him and says to wait his turn. I wait patiently in my seat. Miss Little says she'll pick out pieces of paper with our names on them from a box, and the boy or girl she picks will get to have their turn choosing a square.

A girl named Macy chooses a purple square. A boy named Ben S. chooses an orange square. Another boy named Daniel chooses a red square. Holly also chooses a red square. There's two red squares left. Ben H. (there's two Bens) chooses a green square. Lilly chooses purple. Joshua chooses red. I hold my breath and stare at the last red square, waiting patiently to hear my name. Kendra Lynn Davis. Kendra Lynn Davis. Ella chooses blue. Olivia chooses orange. Brandon chooses yellow. Kelly also chooses yellow.

Then stupid Michael gets called on, and I know he's stupid because he jumps up and yells and runs like a crazy person all the way to my red square, right next to Daniel and Joshua, and they start yelling too and Miss Little lets them yell for a little bit before she tells them to calm down, and then I hear her say my name, Kendra, and I have to stand up and walk nicely over to the rug and sit down on a blue square, right next to Ella, and far away from my red square.