BFF

The kids had their first full day of school yesterday. I was hanging around outside, waiting for them to come out, and trying to be social. Elfie asks me every day if I’ve made any new “girlfriends.” I haven’t. So I sort of feel like I’m under some pressure. Anyway, I started chatting it up with another mom when Newt came cruising out, looking pretty tired. He sort of collapsed against me and said, “I missed being away from you for so long.” It was ridiculously cute and perfectly timed since I was trying to make a good impression on my new “friend.” Then I went to get Elfie and ran into a woman from our old school. We started yapping, thus proving to my new friend that not only was I the perfect mother but also incredibly popular.

There’s a chance that I’m completely missing the mark on this, but I left with the feeling that my new friend probably thought I really was kind of perfect and popular. Which really cracks me up because of my experience at our last school. On our first day, I met the head of the Parents’ Association — a lovely woman with three adorable, well-dressed daughters. I naturally assumed she fed them only organic food, never let them watch television, and only let them play with handmade wooden toys. In short, she scared the crap out of me. So I didn’t talk to her without acting like a complete spaz for about 3 months (I have that “trouble acting normal when she’s nervous” syndrome). She’s now one of my best friends (and it turns out she feeds her kids pizza, lets them watch movies, and has quite a bit of plastic). So I’m wondering how things will be with my new friend a year from now. Perhaps we’ll be very close. Perhaps we’ll just say “Hi” in the hall. Or perhaps she’ll turn out to be one of those tea baggers who ends up keying my car. You just never can tell.