The Fresh Air of Another Beginning

This is a good time to give you a peek into the personal side of this blog (as promised) because this week has been a landmark for my family. It's the kind of week that reminds you that you're mortal. No matter what, the only constant is change.

Ava, my daughter, that cute little two year old you may have seen at the end of some of the workout videos on the beach in Kauai saying "Beachbody... dot commmm," is now five. And this is her first week of kindergarten. [Begin singing "and the circles, they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down..."]

First let me say that, taking a kid to elementary school in Malibu is surreal. Dodging the line of Hummers, BMW's and Escalades as they all jockey for the best parking spots in order to drop off their precious forty pound cargos, all serenaded by a chorus of seagulls celebrating the faint crash of the morning tide, well, it's not the same way I experienced kindergarten:

I distinctly remember my fears as I approached Montgomery Elementary for day one. Something scary was in that giant building; People I did not know. That fear was only validated when the game of the day became "kill the new kid with the bad hair" (me). I quickly decided that being an ambitious loner was my path for least pain.

But not so for Ava. Not this week. Not this kid. She took to the social challenge of meeting new kids in this new school like a Hilton sister walking into a South Beach night club. (She gets the social skills from mom, Tricia.) Then it was bring on the math. Bring on the spelling. Bring on the puppet show (picture above). Ava was a natural.

Within the first ten minutes of her orientation Ava was over in the dress up area. First it was princess. Then executive chef. Finally hero firefighter. This wasn't school - it was a new stage!

Tricia noted that most of the kids we saw made this transition into kindergarten pretty easily. It was the emotional parents outside that reminded you that this was a milestone. And yes, in the back of our minds we were all thinking something along the same theme; that in fact, some day all these cherubs would turn 16. Can't we keep them this size? Can't we trim them back like Bonzai trees and enjoy their innocence forever? Guess not.

It was a beginning for me too, as I spent twenty minutes learning what a PTA is, and trying to avoid getting roped into M/W/F morning traffic duty (although the orange vest did have strong appeal). I managed to stay on plan, volunteering to help raise money so the school has what it needs for a well-rounded program and to help beef up the PE program, possibly with the help of visits from some fitness experts (whom you know and whom I am lucky enough to consider friends).

Professionally and personally, I enjoy new challenges. This chapter looks to be a good one. And perhaps over the course of the next twelve years I will finally learn what calculus was really all about. (And that periodic table. What on earth was that thing for?) This is my chance to pay attention, and go through it with Ava.

That's what this week was for me, the fresh air of another beginning.