I love this picture, because Kelly’s hair needs a trim, there is a new hole in her pants, and she’s covered in dirt.  But damn if she isn’t holding that tiny violin perfectly!  Kelly is such a contradiction in terms, hence our conversation last night:

Kelly: Mommy, will you crawl into bed with me?  I have some things I need to say.

Momma: Absolutely.  Shoot.

Kelly: I can’t go to 1st grade.  I’m not going.

Momma: Why?  Are you afraid to go?

Kelly: Yes, very afraid.

Momma: Are you afraid of the work? Do you think it’s going to be hard?

Kelly: Exactly.  And I’m not ready because there are some things in Kindergarten I haven’t learned well enough.  There is one thing I really failed.

Momma: Your teacher hasn’t called me about things you haven’t mastered.  What is it?

Kelly: Hanukkah Bingo. I really, really didn’t understand Hanukkah Bingo.

Momma: Oh…honey…you can go to 1st grade without understanding Hanukkah Bingo.

Kelly: NO, I really CANNOT.

Momma: Kelly, I know I’ve said this before, and many times since…but I feel I should try it once more: we’re not Jewish.

Sara: KELLY!  AH! Hanukkah Bingo isn’t a REAL THING.  Reading logs, spelling tests, math problems…those are REAL THINGS.  Hanukkah Bingo isn’t even a REAL GAME.  Hanukkah is real.  Bingo is real.  Hanukkah Bingo is made up! Kelllll-eeee—ugh! We’re not Catholic. We’re not Jewish. We’re just regular ‘ole Jesus people.

Kelly: But what if I AM Jewish?  And I can’t understand the Bingo?!  I can’t, can’t, can’t go to 1st Grade.

Momma: Honey, you’re going to 1st Grade.  Hanukkah falls over Thanksgiving this year, so there may not even be an opportunity to play Hanukkah Bingo in 1st grade.  How about I have a talk with the 1st grade teachers and let them know you don’t understand Hanukkah Bingo?

Kelly: YES, that would make me feel MUCH better.

*And I did.  Oh yes, I did.  Less than 12 hours later, I informed a 1st grade teacher that Kelly cannot, cannot play Hanukkah Bingo.  Not because of religious differences, because Kelly remains on the Jesus fence, but because she does not understand the many complex words. She thanked me for the Intel, and as always, we shared a good giggle about my children. Godspeed to the entire 1st Grade team.  They have done so much for Sara, and how do I thank them?  By sending them my religiously-conflicted, Bingo-lovin’, violin-playin’ baby girl.  Who tonight, claiming she did it out of 1st grade anxiety, poured glue all over the face of her sister’s brand new mermaid doll, and attempted to glue the slipper organizer to the floor of her closet. If Elmer’s Glue had a church, Kelly would occupy the front row.*