My mom holds my hand and two teenage girls, one wearing a black hoodie with a bulldog on it, greet us at the door.
“Hi Hadassah, come in!” They smile sweetly and hang my Paw Patrol backpack in a cubby with my name scrawled across the top. I don’t feel nervous anymore about leaving my mom for the day.
I pass by the Dr. Seuss and Pete the Cat books before a woman with flowing golden locks stops to hug me. It’s my favorite teacher, Ms. Rachel.
“I love your dress today, Hadassah!” she compliments me warmly.
When Ms. Rachel releases me from her arms, I rush to the red table, aiming for my favorite pink iPad tablet.
“Walking feet!” yells Ms. Batts, a kind lady with glasses, a funky blue dress, and short platinum blonde hair.
Usually, we are with Ms. Rachel and the teenagers, but if I’m good, I can snag some candy from Ms. Batts when she praises our work.
I sit with my tablet, playing a game with popping colors and neon sand, as my friends Braylen, Kehlani, Kenan, and Amaya start to appear around me.
Kenan starts crying before he even sits in his chair. He wails about his socks.
“I don’t want my socks on!” he says as he flings both his shoes across the class.
One shoe lands right next to me. THUD!
“WAAAH!” I start crying.
“Both of you be quiet,” roars Ms. Rachel “Do you want to go in the time-out chair?”
I haven’t been there all year. I’m not starting now. But, Kenan gets sent there.
Next, it’s circle time, my favorite.
“YAAY” I shout. Loud cries from a shoeless Kenan reverberate from the time-out chair.
“I WANT CIRCLE TIME! I WANT CIRCLE TIME!”
Circle time is where we sing, count, and learn on a carpet with an impressive mixture of crimson, olive, and coral with the alphabet letters all around its border. I get to stand on the ‘H’, which has a horsey on it.
“Today is Friday, yes it’s Friday, today is Friday, yes indeed!” Everyone sings around me.
I don’t sing along, because the ‘Lion King’ mural captivates me, and I tune out whatever the teacher says. It’s probably just the ABCs again.
“Playtime! Everyone get your water bottles.” A teacher says. I walk in line to get my water, and I’m so excited to go outside that I’m pushing past the other kids.
“Catch!” I yell, throwing a ball. Just then, Braylen rides his bike over my foot!
“WAAAH!” I cry, for the third time today.
The rest of the day passes quickly. We go in for lunch, and I get to sit with Ms. Rachel because my foot hurts. nap time comes. I’m calm, but drained.
“Goodnight Hadassah.” A voice says softly from above as I drift off into sleep.
I wake up to a blurry yet familiar figure standing above me smiling.
“Mommy!” I shout. She hugs me and we walk out the door.
