A few weeks ago, Ken and I went to the parent information session at Reid’s school. Reid went to Aunty Amanda’s house for supper and the evening, a very good trade-off as far as Reid was concerned. She asked if Nam’s mom and dad would be there, too, because they make very good rice and noodles and “not-Canada” food. I supplied the word, “Asian” since she seemed to need it and assured her that Nam’s mom and dad would be there. Reid responded, “Woo hoo! Rice and noodles and rice-noodles are the best food ever.” I made a point of telling Amanda that I hoped that she wasn’t planning to have non-Asian food on Reid’s account because Reid was anticipating Asian.
At the school presentation, we were among only five (out of 16) families that turned up for the Junior-Senior Kindergarten session and were the only parents of kids in Senior Kindergarten. I never understand how people can resist the opportunity to learn more about what their kids do all day and about the people with whom they do these things. There wasn’t any earth-shattering information given, though they did tell us where to find the kids’ workbooks if ever we wanted to see what they’re doing. There were other tidbits of information and then the meeting ended.
On the way out, one of the other dads stopped us to tell us that Reid was a sweet girl who took very good care of his son, who was having trouble adjusting to JK. He said that Reid was like “a little mother hen” and he wanted us to know that he appreciated her. Sometimes Reid takes the “mother hen” role over the line to “bossy” but it’s good to know that it seems to be what is required in many situations. Ken and I decided to take it as a compliment. And a lovely one at that.