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My
First Day of Kindergarten I remember my first day of Kindergarten. People never believe me when I tell them that but I really do remember it. Life made perfect sense to me up until that point. But it was one of the strangest days of my life. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but up until that day, I had absolutely no obligations. Now I had to wake up early and be somewhere on time. I remember running late to my first day of Kindergarten. And my brother Billy was also running late so he gave me a ride to school on his bike. He was a paperboy so I rode in the basket that attached to his handlebars. I only lived a block away from school so we were there in no time. I had always seen my older brothers and sisters going off to school but I never really knew what the deal was. I figured that when the time came, I'd know what to do. And I don't even know if I knew that some day the time would come. I just went with the program, got dressed and rushed off to school. When I got there, I got separated from my brother. He went off to his seventh grade class and I got shuttled over to Kindergarten. Kindergarten was a word that I had never heard before. That's all I really remember about that day. There were all kinds of words I had never heard before. And I had no idea who any of these other kids were. But, whatever, just go along. Kindergarten wasn't all that tough academically. It was pretty basic stuff - letters, numbers, pencil, paper, milk, cookies, nap, go home. I only had to be there half a day. It was all over by noon. And somewhere in the middle of the first day, there was another word I had never heard before. Recess. I remember the nun said to us, "okay, children, it's time for recess." What the hell was going on here? What's recess? And what are children? We're kids. Can't she see that? We are kids. I figured out what it all meant in context of course. Next thing you knew we were all out in the schoolyard starting recess. And the nun said, "okay, children, go out there and run around." I remember her saying that. "Go outside and run around." I knew exactly what she meant by this. Basically, recess was not for us. It was for her. She needed a break. So just get out of here. Go out and run around. But these little kids, all they heard were the words "run and "around." They knew what run meant. But around. That word was a little more complex. They broke it down into its most basic components. They were as confused as I was. The word "around" has within it the word "round." So what did these little peers of mine do? For ten minutes, they ran "a round" in a perfect little circle. And I was the only one who didn't join them. I stood outside of them and thought, "oh my God, what have I gotten myself into here?" They're running "a round". That's not what she meant you stupid little kids. I stood outside their circle and I mocked. Not out loud but just to myself. Back inside we go and it's more letters and numbers and paper and pencil. Then we were done for the day. Pretty easy stuff I thought. Now it's time for us to go home. I know how I got there. I arrived in a paper basket that was attached to the front of my brother's bike. But now the nun had to figure out how we were all going to get home. There were only two options. You were either a walker or you were someone who was going to ride home on the bus. So she lined everyone up against the wall and began calling out our names. If she called your name, you were a walker, go stand over there. Everyone else, by default, was a bus rider. I remember her calling out the names and one of them sounded real close to mine. She called out "Thomas Ryan." I thought, hmmm, there's someone in this class who has a name really close to mine. But that's not me. My name is Tommy Ryan. Thomas? What a weird name. I had never heard the word Thomas before. So I didn't respond. And by default, I ended up in the group of kids who were going home on the bus. I had never been on a bus before. I felt pretty bad for that poor bus driver. He dropped everyone else off where they were supposed to go. And then he had this stupid little kid on his bus with a nametag on his chest that said Thomas Ryan. And this little kid had no idea where he lived. The bus driver had no way of knowing that stupid little Thomas Ryan lived right across the street from the school. He was supposed to have walked home but because he didn't know his name, now he was riding around on a huge bus wasting this guy's time. Two hours earlier I was feeling pretty superior to my little classmates. And now I was wrapping up what could be one of the most idiotic first days in the history of Kindergarten. Eventually the bus driver figured out where I lived and I can still remember when we pulled up along side my house. My mother was outside waiting for me. She was pretty worried by now since I hadn't arrived home with the rest of the walkers who lived on my block. I told her what happened. I told her that my name was not Thomas. It was Tommy. She probably realized right then and there that I had a very long road ahead of me. It would have been nice if someone had explained all of this to me before sending me off to battle. Maybe a one-minute drill before I go out the door. "Now look, there are gonna be a lot of things that you're not gonna understand when you get in there - like the word recess and the word children. Oh, and by the way, you're name is also Thomas." I still haven't figured out how my older brothers Jimmy and Billy, on their first day, instinctively knew that their names were James and William. Luckily, word didn't get out about the kid who didn't even know what his name was. So on day two I got with the program and ran around in a circle just like everybody else. ADDITIONAL… (after seeing the kids running around) They were such…children. close this window to return to the Tom Ryan writing page SHECKY!
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