Mason begins pre-K this year. When I was a kid, kindergarten only lasted half a day and you didn’t stay at school all day long until 1st grade. These days kids start a year earlier with pre-K, which is only half a day long, and then move to kindergarten which now lasts all day. By the time Mason’s 17, he will have attended school 13 1/2 years.

Last night was Mason’s enrollment/open house night. Mason’s class is basically the first one you come to when you walk in the front door, so he should have no problems finding it. Last night he got to see his classroom for the first time, and he was really excited by all the colors, numbers, and other posters hanging on the walls.

Mason’s attending one of the two elementary schools I went to as a kid, so it was neat to walk around the school and look at everything that’s changed. I’ll bet I haven’t been inside that school in 20 years. What used to be the cafeteria is now the library. The cafeteria now resides in a new wing they built on the north side of the school, and they’ve built more classrooms off the south side of the school as well. The big stage at the end of the old cafeteria where I performed many a music program was gone as well, replaced with offices. I guess 20 years is a long time.

Mason’s daycare doesn’t transport kids to and from Yukon schools, so my dad is going to add another hat to his duties — shuttle driver. Each morning Susan will drop Mason off at school, and each afternoon dad will pick him up and bring him to the daycare which is here at work. It works out well since dad works here too and already has an ID badge, so he can avoid the daily gate hassles someone without a badge would have.