It’s hard to believe Mayah was done being a kindergartener last Friday. I knew the end of the school year would arrive eventually, but like everything seems to do lately, it snuck up on me. The same can’t be said for Mayah; she’d been counting down the days long before the last day was in sight – partly because she’s thrilled with the idea of first grade (“and having my own desk . . . that opens!”), but mostly because she knew the end of kindergarten meant a trip to the mysterious and alluring American Girl store we’d only peeked in briefly once before. (Kindergarten was a bit "challenging" for Mayah as my mom/Mayah's grandma was diagnosed with cancer only days before school started. It wasn't easy for Mayah understanding what was happening with Grandma while also trying to adjust to the expectations of kindergarten.)
So off we went last Friday afternoon – Mayah, Grandma, Grandpa and me – to the always way-too-big and generally way-too-crowded Mall of America. I must say there were times during the year I wasn’t entirely sure Mayah’s behavior was going to get her into first grade come September, but she did it. And we were all happy to celebrate!
When I was Mayah’s age dolls were simple: blonde or brown hair? blue or brown eyes? Boy, how times have changed! I’m not kidding when I say there were at least 100 dolls to choose from . . . each one just a bit different than the previous. Luckily, Mayah had her list of favorites whittled down before we ever set foot in the door.
We looked upstairs; we looked downstairs. Back and forth we went as she weighed her options (and had far too much fun showing me how she’s somehow become an escalator-riding expert). It didn’t take long for her to make her final choice. Although she’s only six, Mayah knows what she likes and never hems or haws with decisions of any size for long. “I’d like Josefina, please,” she said. I told her how much I also liked Josefina and how it was neat that Josefina is also Hispanic. After five seconds of complete silence I (and anyone else standing anywhere near us) heard a loud, “So, Mom, what is HICK-spanic???”
“His-panic, Mayah . . . it’s His-panic. Josefina is from Mexico, and you're from Guatemala . . . you both have brown skin with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and you're both Hispanic!”
I know Mayah will probably always remember getting Josefina on her last day of kindergarten and how we made such a big day of it. I’m also pretty sure Josefina is going to have many fun adventures with Mayah over the summer!
