Kindergarten

On Sept 4, 2014, Casey had his first day of kindergarten. It was at Hickory Elementary, which is within walking/ bike riding distance out the back gate of our complex. On this day, we all walked him to school. I've heard horror stories about the first day of school. Alas, none of that played out here. Casey was just fine. We dropped him off in time for the 9AM start. We escorted him into the classroom; it was utter chaos in there. Casey got separated from us, found some toys and forgot all about us. So, we left. Talk about anti-climatic. When he got home, we asked him how school was. He said it sucked. MAYBE not his exact words, but pretty close. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if that's exactly what he said. When asked why, he said, 'No recess'. Yup, some genius decided to introduce 5 year olds to a school year with short days... with no recess. Obviously, who ever thought this was a good idea as never had kids, and have never been an actual classroom teacher. I don't know who had it worse. Casey, or his poor teacher. Imagine a classroom full of 5 yr olds, who are cooped up all morning. That would be, ummm.. patience trying... Fortunately, the short days with no recess were only scheduled for 2 days... After that, they went to full days, (9am-2pm).. with recess.

Unfortunately, Casey didn't get recess on that third day either.. Because... Mid morning, mommy got a call from the school nurse. Casey fell in class, whacked his head and needed a trip to the ER. I can imagine how unsettling it is to get a call from the school. I mean, it's never good news. When is the last time a school called a parent during the middle of the day to say, "Just wanted to tell you Little Jonny is great!"... No way. It's either the kid is in trouble, or hurt.. or some other emergency.. like I said, never good. But as far as emergency's go, this one wasn't bad. Some glue, (no stitches required) and some time to heal is all it took. No permanent injury!

As an aside, Daddy learned something new while writing this post. It's kindergarten, not kindergarden... I always assumed it was garden... like a place where you plant the seeds of learning... where you nurture little ones at the beginning of the life cycle... Apparently not... It's a garten.. whatever that is....

This photo reminds me of those jail intake processing photos. Sorry, had to say it.

This kid doesn't look too traumatized on his inaugural walk to school!

Casey and Daddy on the way to school. Casey actually ran back into the house and said, "I want my cowboy hat"... and wore it for about 100 yards, until he handed it to Daddy.

Da Boys ran into their buddy Sammy on the walk to school.

Daddy and Casey on the first day of school; with Sydney photobombing! (Casey's unsure look wasn't about going to school, it was about posing for yet another photo)

Close Call

This weekend, Casey and I embarked on a new adventure. As you know, he has been riding his bike without training wheels. In a series of baby steps, he has gone from riding around our building, to exploring the 'streets' within our gated community, to riding on the sidewalks adjacent to city streets. Well, this time, we added an extra component. We ran errands on our bikes. First we rode to Supercuts to drop something off. What is significant about this is that it required us to cross an major intersection. Next, we rode to Target where Casey got a 'drinking treat' ie: ICEE. After browsing for some toy cars and trains, we rode home. The next day, Daddy had a (seemingly) great idea. We were going to ride to the 'Ice Cream Factory' ie: Baskin Robins and eat ice cream. The ride started out benign enough, Casey just very excited to be riding his bike to get ice cream. Our planned route was as follows. Plaza del amo to Crenshaw to Sepulveda. (See diagram below, click to enlarge).


We got to the corner of Crenshaw and Sepulveda. Of course Casey wanted to be the one to push the pedestrian walk button. At this point, the idea was to head east along Sepulevda, crossing Crenshaw. (See red arrow below, click to enlarge) For reference, at this location, Sepulveda has a 45 MPH speed limit and is heavily congested at this time of day. IE: wall to wall cars. We waited for the traffic signal to change, and got the white walk sign on the pedestrian box. Casey mounted his bike and proceeded into the intersection GOING SOUTH ALONG CRENSHAW, AGAINST THE RED LIGHT, DIRECTLY INTO TRAFFIC!!! (See pink arrow below, click to enlarge).


Casey crossed into two lanes of travel; cars had just began to cross the intersection, and thankfully drivers in both affected lanes were attentive, and stopped WITHIN 5 FEET OF HITTING CASEY. I had to let Casey go first, because he isn't always steady on his takeoffs yet, so I have to stay behind to make sure he launches OK. I was just exiting the sidewalk when I noticed he was going the wrong direction. I immediately yelled, "Casey" and simultaneously jumped off my bike, ran after him and picked him and his bike up together and ran back to the sidewalk. Horns were blaring and people were yelling. We waited on the sidewalk thru another light cycle, and WALKED our bikes across Crenshaw. Then we stopped on the corner and I hugged him and consoled him we hugged each other and consoled each other. I asked if he was scared, and he was ready to cry and could only nod his head yes. And I was thinking, "Yeah buddy, me too". While I tried to be strong for both of us, I was torn up inside. Let's just say there were likely way more skid marks in our laundry than on the roadway... This incident affected me so deeply, I couldn't sleep last night. Buddy, I'm glad you're safe, that was a close call!

This is pretty much what was facing us... Kinda scary!