We’ve just about made it through one month of school.  Audio is really enjoying her full days of Hi5, but sometimes she complains about “mean kids.”  One day, she told us that one of the mean kids spit on her during lunch.  After a long, difficult conversation we gathered that the boy was sitting next to her and he spat on Audio’s cheek for no reason.  We asked if she had told the teacher and she said that she had and that the teacher moved the boy to a different table.  When it was suggested that Audio stand in the shower and wash her face really well, Audio said that her face was clean and didn’t need to be washed because the boy had actually spat in her mouth.  In a later conversation, Audio reported to her mother that the boy had not spat on her at all.  And, in fact, he asked to be moved from the table because Audio was sitting too close to him. 

The next morning, I asked one of the teachers about how things are going.  She said that there is a spitting problem, a hitting problem (“Everyone is hitting.”), and there’s a stomach bug going around.  She said that Audio hasn’t been getting picked on or bullied, but said that in the event that a kid was getting picked on or if a kid was involved in any sort of incident, the parents would get a call.  At the end of the day, when I brought up the “Everyone is hitting” line from the teacher, Audio stared at me expressionless and then looked away without commenting. 

Over the weekend, Audio’s mom took her to a neighborhood park for a birthday playdate with one of the girls in her class.  The girl’s mother informed my wife that Audio was the only kid from the class who showed up because all the others had caught the stomach bug and had to stay home.  My wife told me later that Audio tried to speak to and play with the birthday girl, but the birthday girl didn’t seem interested in speaking with or playing with Audio.  Perhaps they’ll be best friends someday. 

While they were at that park, I was with Dee Dee at a different park working on riding her bike.  After a few downhill coasts on her balance bike (a bike that I ripped the pedals and chain off of) she hopped on her pedal bike and rode it around, only needing assistance to get started, on the baseball diamond.  Dee Dee’s mom and Audio showed up at the park we were at in time to join in on the excitement.  After a bit more bike riding, we all went home and celebrated my wife’s and my eleventh wedding anniversary with an exciting dinner and a dance party.  Maybe describing it as exciting is stretching it a bit.  But we did have a good time.