... and she danced

Our little girl stood still, just a moment, dwarfed by the big gymnasium about her, just long enough for mom to take a picture.

And then she was off, running and dancing and gliding and dancing and running all through the gym. Her first school with a gym. Her first non-preschool school. Her first public school. Her first big kids' school.

With the poise and speed that comes to those who've mastered basic motor skills, but the fearless confidence that comes only to those who haven't yet had a big scrape, Lil' Genghis ran all around the gym, running and dancing and gliding and running some more. She made a friend or two in a jiffy, chased them, was chased. At some point she screamed, "I'm the fastest girl in the world!" as she ran. And when another girl got her in the impromptu game of tag, she decided it was time to change games.

She's a big girl now. Starting Monday, she's in the big kids' school for the first time, with her name and little symbol -- a heart -- on the back of her little blue chair, on the letter "A" on the carpet the whole class will stand on, on her cubby, on her coat hanger. This time, she'll be hanging up her coat all by herself, and she'll have to be better about paying attention in school, and she'll surely learn to write her name. And there's other cool stuff, with many syllables, that she'll learn -- improved socialization and cooperation, phonemic awareness, some self-discipline and focus.

But sometimes she's going to wind up in the gym. And she's going to run. And dance. And glide. And run some more. And as she runs sometimes she'll laugh, like the sweet innocent girl she still is, but running in a direction she's helping set herself.