“Tyler,” his mom called. “It’s time to leave for your kindergarten picnic. Hurry up and get into the car.” “Oh no,” he thought. “It can’t be time to leave already!” He had been dreading this day ever since his mom told him about the ‘Kindergarten Get Acquainted’ picnic invitation that had come in the mail. It seemed that most every day something about kindergarten came in the mail. First, it was a list of school supplies that he would need. Next, it was the bus schedule and the dress code policy. Finally, it was his teacher’s name and group assignment. With each piece, Tyler grew more and more scared. “What is the big idea about kindergarten? Why couldn’t he just go back to his preschool?” he wondered. He liked his preschool. He had friends there and he knew the teachers and the teachers knew him. The most confusing part was that his mom was making a really big deal about it. She was so excited every time she talked about kindergarten. In fact, all of the mothers were excited.

“Tyler!” his mom’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Where are you and why aren’t you ready to go?” Tyler quickly put on his shoes and grabbed his calculator. He stuffed the calculator into his pocket. It was like an old friend and he felt safe with it in his pocket. He hoped that as long as he had it with him maybe it wouldn’t feel so bad if none of the other kids wanted to play with him. He figured that he could always sit under a tree and practice doing math.

When he got downstairs, he saw that his mother was hurriedly gathering the blanket and their lunch plus all of the stuff that she always needed for his little brother. When his mom saw that he was finally ready, she asked, “Tyler, where have you been? You love picnics. You usually want to be the first one there, what’s up?” He wanted to tell her but she was already walking out the door and he knew she really wasn’t expecting him to answer. All of his thoughts, fears and questions about kindergarten would have to wait.

In the car on the way to the picnic, Tyler tried not to think about where they were going. He wanted to pretend they were going somewhere fun. But his mom started talking about the picnic. “Isn’t this exciting?” she said. “You’re going to make new friends, take a tour of your classroom and best of all you will finally get to meet your new teacher! I bet you can’t wait!” Tyler thought, “I can wait, all right.” But he answered; “Yeah sure, I want to meet Miss Smell.” “It’s not Smell!” his mom gasped. “It’s Nell! Miss Nell!” Then she scolded, “Whatever you do, make sure that you say it right when you meet her. You don’t want her to think that you’re a trouble making smarty pants.” “What’s the big deal about this Miss Nell?” he wondered.

“Oh well,” he thought, “maybe something cool would happen like a flat tire or something.” Then he wouldn’t have to worry about it. But it was too late. When he looked up, he saw that they were turning into the school parking lot. Tyler could see that some of the moms and kids were already there and a few of them were looking to see who had arrived. His mom jumped right out of the car to get the stroller and their stuff. Tyler thought, “What is the hurry?” He tried to take his time but his mom was handing him things to carry and moving him along. They made their way across the grass to where some of the other moms had put down their blankets. “This is it,” he thought. “My entire school year, possibly my entire life rests on what my mom does next.” Where was she going to place their blanket and who would be beside them?