First Day of School

Ariel flipped the page, and House pointed to another picture. "What about that one?" he asked.

She gave a small groan before replying, "That was Ginger's first day of school."

House raised his eyebrow, and she knew he wanted to hear the story. She rolled her eyes and started.

The morning had started out all right. I got Ginger up and dressed and fed her breakfast. I stopped to take a few pictures, wanting to capture that day.

I remember after the third snap, she asked, "Mommy, do I have to go to school?"

Grinning, I told her yes she did. She just sighed and looked at the floor. After I took a few more pictures, I drove her to school.

She had been quiet during the ride over, and I thought she would be fine. We got out, and I walked her to the preschoolers' room. It was when I went to say goodbye that things got rough.

I had knelt down and given her a hug. When I stood up, Ginger suddenly flung her arms around my leg and refused to let go. I knelt back down to tell her that she'll be fine and that I'll be back to pick her up at one when she let go.

She then turned around and walked over to the arts and crafts table and sat down. I was a bit startled, but pleased that she wasn't being clingy. I smiled at her teacher and warned her that Ginger was good at getting into things.

She assured me that my daughter would be fine, and I left. I had been at work for an hour when I was called to the school. I remember I was worried sick when I met the teacher outside the door.

I guess she sensed my distress and told me that Ginger was fine. She told me that Ginger had been behaving perfectly. She wowed everyone when she recited the alphabet backwards and counted to fifty.

"Then," she said, "came playtime." Ginger had gone over to the crafts table like before, and seemed to be getting along with the other children. The teacher told me she had gone to the pretend corner to help a little boy that fell down, and when she turned around, she couldn't believe her eyes.

I asked her what happened, and she told me it would be best if I saw for myself. So, I went in the room and stopped dead in my tracks.

Ginger was standing next to what I assumed to be a little boy. Except for the fact that he was painted blue, had strips of construction paper glued to his head, and glitter all over his body.

I was speechless. That's when Ginger saw me. I remember she walked up to me and said, "He dared me I couldn't make a monster. I showed him I could."

I could only look down at her. She had some blue streaks on her skin, glitter in her hair, and somehow cut her arm with the safety scissors. The teacher came up to us then and asked us to leave.

When we got home, I punished her, but not before taking a picture of her looking like that.

When she finished speaking, Ariel looked at House. He was speechless.