Tuesday is my morning to chauffeur the lovely Miss Jayna to her nursery school, and doing so is always a bit of a crap shoot, because I never know which Jayna I’m going to get. Will it be the “Yay! School!” Jayna, or the “I DON’T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL! [weeping and crying and screaming]” Jayna?
This morning, it seemed to be the middle ground: she was neither psyched nor horrified by the prospect … and when your child is balancing between the realms of “Best Possible Outcome” and “Worst Possible Outcome,” ye must tread lightly and be on the lookout for potential landmines, for one wrong move and BOOM! And that explosion, brothers and sisters, will topple your little bundle of joy from the balance beam of ambiguity into a very clearly defined emotional realm, and you will wish you could put your fingers in your ears and curl up in a ball until The Screaming and The Crying have stopped.
And you definitely, definitely, de-fin-ite-ly do not want The Screaming and The Crying to take place as you attempt to part with your little bundle of joy during the preschool drop-off, because then you have yourself A Situation—or, worse yet, A Scene.
The procedure for dropping one’s child off at Jayna’s preschool is for the parents to hand off their respective children just inside the front door of the schoolhouse. It is at this moment that things are most likely to go awry.
I decided to test the waters by broaching the subject shortly after we pulled out of the driveway.
“Now, Jayna, this morning, Daddy needs to say ‘Bye-bye’ at the door, and you need to let Mrs. So-and-so help you hang up your coat, OK?”
“NOOooooooo!” [massive pout]
Is that a landmine I feel beneath my foot? Why, I do believe it is. Let us hope that I have not yet placed upon it enough pressure to cause detonation. Time to change the subject.
Jayna’s favorite playtime activity with me at home starts with her saying, “I’m the mommy and you’re the little boy.” We played this just prior to leaving for preschool, in fact, and our playing included pretending that the mommy had to go to work. I decided to see if I could smooth things over by attempting to get us back into play mode.
“Jayna, I know what we can do! Let’s pretend I’m the little boy and you’re the mommy and I’m driving you to your office so you can do your work! That’s fun, right?”
“NO.” [pouting intensifies]
“No?” No, you schmuck, of course not. Why would you think that she’d think that that was fun? Just because it’s the only thing she ever wants to do? You’re blowing it here, dude. Oh, and you’re also talking to yourself. And, hey, speaking of fun and talking to yourself, lemme ask you: Are you having any fun yet?
Hmmm. I had to think fast, for, clearly shewas losing her balance and tipping toward the Dark Side.
“Oh, wait, I know what we can do: Let’s pretend we’re The Little Einsteins and we’re taking you to school in Rocket!”
“Yeah! Let’s do it, Daddy!”
Yahtzee!
“I’m Annie and you’re Leo,” she told me.
“Awesome. Now let’s help Rocket blast off.” And, as we all know, the takeoff procedure for Rocket begins by patting your hands on your thighs patty-cake style while saying “pat pat pat pat.”
So we’re patting.
“But we need more power!” says Leo, who is flying Rocket, except it’s me who says it while trying to simultaneously drive a car and pat my lap. “Patpatpatpatpatpat!” we say in unison, speeding up our patting.
“Now raaaaaaise your arms … as hiiiiiigh as you can … [and steeeeeeer with your knee] … and sayyyyyyy ‘Blast off!'”
“Blast off!”
OK, I think we’re good here. I think we’re alright.
“Sing the song, Daddy!”
Wanna be a parent? Then you best learn to play along, my friends.
I belt out the song.
“We’re going on a trip/in our favorite Rocket ship/Zooming through the sky!/Little Einsteins!” and so on and so forth. I was brilliant.
Two complete renditions later, we arrive at school, and I walk her to the front door, but she’s not having any of that leave-her-at-the-door nonsense. Clinging ensues.
Fortunately for our heroes, Mommy is on the school board for Jayna’s preschool, and Daddy built the preschool’s website pro bono, and the teacher who usually greets us at the door is one whom Daddy’s little brother and sister each had at the same preschool some 30-plus years ago—which is probably why the staff there is willing to allow us to be the only parents who walk their child up the stairs to the coat room and then back down to the classroom rather than abandoning our clingy child at the door. And while I don’t like to take unfair advantage of a situation, that is exactly what I did this morning, because sometimes? Sometimes, feeling bad about taking advantage still feels better than the alternative.
The good news is: I’m no longer talking to myself. The bad news is: the reason I’m not talking to myself is that I’m singing to myself. “The Little Einsteins” theme. Over and over. In my head. For the past 13 hours.
Oh yeah – that game. Groucho and I play it all the time. I’m the mommy and he is the little boy…
Great. Now I have that song stuck in my head too. Thanks for that. Although, I have to admit that it’s a welcomed change from the “Go, Diego, Go” theme song.
We used to be on a Johnny and the Sprites kick, until I broke down and bought the DVD of course…and now we are no longer interested in Johnny. We are, however, completely enthralled with the Little Einsteins.
Now, I admit that some of these shows are annoying, at best. But any show that gives me the opportunity to go to the bathroom and maybe swing by the kitchen to grab a snack — without the child even knowing I’m missing — is a great thing. And well worth getting lyrics stuck in your head.
I will tell my husband that he is not the only male driving around singing the Einsteins theme. He is also partial to the Sesame Street theme, by the way. Though hearing him try to hit those high notes is a treat.
thank GOD for this blog. you are my touchstone.
this morning, i was crooning the hills are alive with the sound of music.
I like to switch up the lyrics to the children’s tv show theme songs. My favorite is that when we watch Dora, Mommy always sings “Back fat, Back fat….”
I have hopes you are with me on this one; now that i have cleared up the whole buy/rent beer thing on your last post I am hoping that I am not becoming your obtuse commentor. Because that word is just too close to obese for comfort.
Belle: That Groucho is one lucky SOB.
Licha: My pleasure! Why should I suffer alone when I can bring you all down with me? 😉
Milissa: Tell your husband I’m glad to hear I’m not alone!
Peter: Thanks for the compliment … and I assume you’ll be uploading a recording of your vocal performance to share with the group?
Lorrie: You are not yet labeled as my “obtuse” commenter. 😉
Now, whether you are obese or have back fat is yet to be determined …
Those damn Little Einsteins and their damn catchy theme song….It is in my head 23.5 hours a day. I hum, I sing it, I find myself patting my legs…I am relieved to know that I am not alone.
Jessica: Yeah, I have to say, the incessant mental repetition of children’s-show theme songs is one of my least favorite aspects of parenthood thus far!