C started school again this past week. He’s in what they call a “kindergarten readiness” class – meaning he’s repeating pre-K. I was horrified when this idea was first suggested, but I was eventually brought around. He was born two days before the cut-off, meaning he was destined to be either the youngest in his class or the oldest. I wanted him to be the youngest. My wife wanted him to be the oldest. His teachers agreed with her, and I was out-voted.

So he’s in a class with 10 other kids that are doing exactly the same thing.

When we were talking about school one of the days this week, he told me he was ready now. I didn’t understand. “Ready for what?”

“Ready for kindergarten,” he said. “I can start next week.”

Ouch. “Are they talking about that at school?” I asked.

He looked at his feet. “Yeah.”

“Who is?”

“Everyone. Everyone is talking about it. We all think we’re ready.”

I thought for a second, and then fell back on that great guy tradition: the sports metaphor.

“You know what you’re doing now?” I asked. “You’re practicing. This is a practice year for you, so that next year, when you go to kindergarten, you’re going to be incredible. You’ll already know everything!”

“Practice?”

“Yeah, just like soccer. You know how we practice and practice for the games? That’s what you’re doing with Kindergarten. This year is practice.”

This seemed to cheer him up, though I don’t know how long it will last.