Today, I officially became a father. It was "meet the teacher" night at James' school and I got to meet Mrs. X. Here are the highlights...
- I almost missed the entire night. I had a ball game immediately after work and it was a close call getting home to grab James and walk to the school. This either makes me a lousy dad or a committed ballplayer, depending how you look at it.
- When we got there, Mrs. X. was talking to other parents, so James and I wandered into the fun room. When Mrs. X. saw this she let me know the JK kids hadn't been introduced to that room yet. I was in unchartered and off limits territory!
- Mrs. X. asked James who I was, he said, "This is Mike but his real name is Daddy".
- When Mrs. X. introduced herself by giving me her first name, it blew my mind. Teachers don't have first names, do they? I've been hearing all month about Mrs. X, not a lady with a normal first name.
- James already has homework. He's got to work on writing his name. It's a tough name with the "m" and "s" in there. I still have trouble with it. When the homework starts at the age of four, you know times have changed.
- I cracked a joke with Mrs. X. about James learning to type his name and skipping the whole printing thing. She sort of glared at me until I mutterred "just kidding" at which point she said "I hope so". You'd think I'd get the message that joking about this topic wasn't funny, but I asked her if they still teach cursive writing any more. I let her know that I never use it. She proudly stated that they still teach cursive writing before typing. I say teach 'em how to sign their cheques and credit card receipts and move straight to keyboard class.
- James' class had cassette decks exactly like the ones I remember from primary school.
I felt all grown up meeting James' teacher. It was sorta cool.
