Report card or tarot card?

 Ahhh...kindergarten. A sweet, simple time. Where the only thing that came out of the closet was the weekly introduction of inflatable alphabet people. I am still scarred by the popping of Mrs. M. Where you discover, twenty years later, that your very tall teacher was in fact, 5'2". And prophetic to boot. Who knew that, a quarter of a century later, I would be locked out of my student-teaching classroom by an irate "master" teacher who loathed working with me? Who could delve into the future and foresee that I would systematically be kicked off of every ministry team in my church? My kindergarten teacher...that's who.

While my report card clearly shows that I was rocking out the Ss (satisfactories) and Es (excellents) regularly, there was one glaring exception. An N. An N for "Needs help." It burns me to this day. I remember it all so vividly (or made it up as a handy alibi). There I was, sitting on the round alphabet carpet, playing with my toy truck with the attached trailer. Not the cheap plastic garbage like you'd get today but heavy, die-cast metal. A fellow classmate and toy truck admirer, Jason, came over and SNATCHED my toy away. "Oh hell, no!" I roared, grabbing it back and then propelled my arm up over my head and soundly walloped him with the vehicle. This was before the days of the concussion test so our teacher just had him rest on his nap mat...with MY toy truck with attached trailer! I believe I was stuffed in the closet with the deflated Mrs. M and then unceremoniously (and unjustly) labeled with an N in the area of Getting along with others.. An N that would haunt me for the rest of my life. Kindergarten curse or self-fulfilling prophesy? You be the judge.