AN ICE CREAM TREAT seemed in order after walking through Owatonna’s beautifully-redone, pedestrian-friendly downtown Tuesday afternoon. The sun shone bright on a day as ideal as they come in southern Minnesota. Yes, I could go for ice cream to cool off, not that I ever really need a reason.
So Randy and I headed to our favorite home-grown ice cream shop, The S’Cream.
But our stop at this busy walk-up shop turned out to be more than a pause in our day for a peanut butter sundae and a monster cookie dough Flurry. I struck up a conversation with Paisley and her grandpa (mostly Paisley) while Randy waited for our order.
I didn’t know the two. But I like to engage in conversation, even with strangers. I’ve met many interesting individuals this way. Paisley is no exception. She had just finished her first day of kindergarten and was celebrating with a vanilla/strawberry twist ice cream cone.
As Paisley licked her cone and I spooned cookie dough-flavored ice cream, we talked. First off, I asked about school, a day she summarized as “good and fun.” That led to my next question, “What made it fun?”
Well, Paisley explained, she brought a Barbie book home from school. That prompted me to stress the importance of reading. If you can read, you can learn anything, I told my new friend who is turning six in September. I shared that I also have a September birthday. To which Paisley shared that she’s celebrating her birthday all month long. True or not, I don’t know. But I do know this. Paisley doesn’t like spiders, including the one hanging out in her kindergarten classroom on Tuesday.
But that didn’t quell her spirit. Paisley was happy and animated and not one bit shy. I learned a lot in the time we ate our treats. Her backpack is purple and sports a “P.” She lives in the country, had three cats (one’s gone; I didn’t ask), has three semi trucks (one is “hers”; again, I didn’t ask) and has a loose tooth. Paisley wiggled a bottom front tooth to verify her claim.
This kindergartner was all wiggles. Understandable given her first full school day. She moved constantly while licking the melting ice cream that soon ran onto her hands. A few drips fell onto her shirt, a sparkly pink tee emblazoned with the word LOVE.
What a great message Paisley took to school. She exudes love. That gives me hope. Here’s a little girl who loves school and life and birthdays, especially birthdays. I felt absolute joy in her presence.
Forty-five miles away, my 5-year-old grandson also started kindergarten. He’s much different than Paisley. Quiet. Reserved. But he is no less enthusiastic about school. His mom, my eldest, shared this upon his return home: “Isaac said the school day felt like 3 minutes!” So, yes, he, too, had a good day, a fun day, summarized in that creative response to his mom.
Oh, the joy these kindergartners—one a stranger, the other a dear one—brought me on a beautiful September day in southern Minnesota.
© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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