Alison and Daisy followed the children from the bus into the classroom. Once inside, Alison looked around. The walls were painted a cheery yellow. At the front was the blackboard, calendar, and teacher's desk, and on one side were cubbies labeled with children's names. The room held four square tables with four chairs around each one.
"Here's mine!" Daisy had quickly located the chair which had her name taped to the back and stood smiling proudly at her mother.
"So it is," said Alison.
The teacher, Miss Chitty, smiled and walked over to her, carrying an adult-sized chair for her to sit in. She placed it beside Daisy's.
"Welcome to our class, Mrs. Kolchin and Daisy," she said.
"Thank you." Alison sat down as Miss Chitty returned to the front of the room.
"Good morning children, and welcome to my class," she said. "My name is Miss Chitty, and we're going to have lots of fun learning together."
"Chitty chitty bang bang!" called a boy from the back, and the other children giggled. The teacher waited patiently until they were quiet.
"There's a new song I'd like to teach you," she said. "It's called 'If You're Happy And You Know It'."
She sang the song all the way through, doing the motions along with it. Some of the children, who'd already learned the song in nursery school or child care, began to sing along. She sang the song through three times, and by then, all the children knew it.
Next, Miss Chitty told the class the story about the little old lady who lived in a shoe, and passed out pictures to color. Daisy took her crayons out of her desk. She'd brought them, along with her scissors and glue, to orientation the previous week.
Later, the class was dismissed for recess. Daisy was in line for the slide when she saw three boys walking in circles around Ryan.
"You have two Mommies! You have two Mommies!" they sang in sing-song voices. Ryan looked like he was about to cry.
Suddenly, Daisy dashed to the boys and began hitting the one who'd started the chant. Right away, Miss Chitty was there, pulling the two children apart.
"That's about enough!" she said. "Daisy, I know you were only taking up for your friend, but there is no hitting in our kindergarten class. I want you to apologize to Brandon."
"I'm sorry," Daisy pouted.
"Thank you," said Miss Chitty. "And Brandon, Tyler, and Stephen, what you did was even worse than what Daisy did. There's absolutely no excuse for being cruel to someone because of his family situation. I want all three of you to apologize to Ryan, right now!"
"Sorry," mumbled all three boys, but they didn't sound like they really meant it.
"Now for the rest of recess, I expect all of you to play together nicely. Is that understood?"
All four children nodded. Ryan still looked as if he was about to cry.
"There's nothing wrong with having two Mommies, is there, Miss Chitty?" he asked.
"Not at all!" The teacher smiled and gave him a hug. "Some families have a Mommy and a Daddy, some have two Mommies, and some have two Daddies. All of them are just fine!"
Ryan grinned. "Thank!"
"Did I do the wrong thing, Mommy?" Daisy asked Alison after the teacher had walked away. Alison wasn't sure how to answer her. She was proud of Daisy for taking up for Ryan, but on the other hand, she knew she shouldn't encourage fighting.
"You were right to stick up for Ryan," she said at last. "But next time, just tell them to leave him alone. Never hit another child."
"OK, Mommy." The incident forgotten, Daisy skipped away to play on the swings.
After recess came lunch time, then nap time. Then the children heard another story, and then it was time to line up for the buses. Alison led Daisy outside to the car.
At home, Alison cleaned house until it was time to start dinner. Alexei came home while she was putting the salad and spaghetti on the table.
"Daddy's home!" Daisy was already running to the door before it was open all the way.
"Hello, Dayushka!" Alexei picked his daughter up and held her. "How was your first day of kindergarten?"
"It was fun, Daddy! I like kindergarten."
Alexei smiled. "I am glad." He kissed Alison hello. "Did Dayushka manage all right by herself?"
"Mostly," Alison replied.
Alexei cocked an eyebrow. "Mostly?"
Alison sighed. "Some boys were picking on Ryan because he has two Mommies instead of a Mommy and a Daddy. Daisy hit one of the boys."
"Did she get into trouble?"
"Not really. The teacher just made her apologize to the boy she hit, but she did get on to them for teasing Ryan. I was glad to see that."
"It sounds to me like Dayushka can take care of herself just fine," Alexei remarked.
"Yes," Alison agreed. "I feel a whole lot better now."
"Me, too."
