Potluck Picnic

Tonight we went to a potluck picnic at Zoe's school. All of the other Playschool families from Kristi's class were there. The kids all ran around avoiding eating while the parents chatted and nibbled.

Zoe has a few admirers now that she is one of the "older" kids. She came back from summer break, and is suddenly long and slender, all long tan legs and arms swinging confidently, long golden hair brushed away from her cheeks. The boys love her.
Liam is suddenly asking for playdates, and a supercute young chap named Harrison follows her around class everyday, hanging on her every word. Waiting. Waiting for her to notice him.
Zoe has been a crazed princess lately. At school in the morning, she enters the fairytale classroom, and immediately skips over to the costume rack and pulls down one of many princess dresses to wear like Mr. Robinson changing sweaters. She also likes to wear her fairy wings. So girly.
The other day when I picked her up from school, the kids were all on the playground. A little boy was wearing a princess skirt, his hips wrapped in a cloud of glittery pinkness and he was following Zoe around the sand. Okay, I thought. Little boys can wear costumes, I'm not going to judge a 3 year old. I called, "Zoe! Let's go get your lunchbox!"
One of the moms said, "are you Zoe's mom?"
"yes."
"Ohhhhhh. Harrison loves Zoe. He talks about her all the time."
"Which one is Harrison?"
"He's the one in the pink skirt."
Ahhhhhh. Turns out, Harrison was so desperate to catch Zoe's eye, he put on a princess skirt. The boy pays attention. Now that's love.

It was a really warm evening and the crickets sang in the bushes at the edge of the playground as we watched the sky turn a rainbow of colors over the bay; San Francisco in silhouette against an orange backdrop rising into yellow then blue then indigo. Piedmont has a higher population of crickets singing in the air, adding to their already "Piedmont is Nicer" ambiance. What a lovely evening.