I got schooled on cool.

I was lucky enough to get to chaperon a field trip to the Zoo. I was really looking forward to the opportunity to peek into James' school life. And put a face to the names of these kids who have taught her words like "sexy" and given her snake bites (twisting the fore arm to make it all red). On a side note, she has held her own with these interesting children. Which makes me proud because that means she has learned what she was taught: )

In the morning we walked to her classroom and on the way at least three kids said "hi" to her. Then in her classroom a little girl kept giving her hugs, and lots of kids said hi to her when she walked in the room. I took my little group to use the bathroom before we left and again children and teachers all over saying "Hi James!" and "Is that your mom?".

We had a 30 minute bus ride (oh fun!) to a park where the kids got to play. It is a sight to behold, 100 kindergartners on a public park! James was pointing out kids she knew and we got to chat with her best-friend-classroom-aide, Bonnie, who is a saint. We ate lunch and headed back on the bus to go to the Zoo.

It was a fun trip and my group was great. We had two boys and two girls. Totally impressed with the Niabi Zoo, and we will be going back. We had to work on keeping our hands to ourselves, not climbing into the animal cages, not walking on the railroad tracks and not eating random melted candy off of the ground. Seriously, this kid was licking his fingers, so I asked him what he was eating (we had no snacks!). Then I scan the duck pond dock that we are standing on and find some purple melted glob. I tell him that it is yucky and don't eat anything off the ground. I turn my back and he goes for it again. A little later I see him kicking and eyeing the duck poop! YUCK!

Back at school, James and I got to leave early from school. As we are walking out the front of the school again at least five kids say "hi" or "bye" to James and one girl (who looked like a second grader, she was so tall) came and gave her a hug. She told me every one's name that said hi to her.

I was relaying this to Bill last night and he just said "What did you expect? She is a Wicke." And that is when I got schooled on what it really means to be cool. It automatically comes with the name Wicke and he pointed out that she has two cool names. James and Wicke. I guess all the flack we get from all those adults about naming her a "boy's" name is paying off because our little girl will always be a favorite among her peers!