If you ask Claire, I'm fairly sure she'd say that Julio's holidays were not at all shabby. Julio (the class "pet") went back to the kindergarten classroom yesterday, and at the end of the week he'll go home with one of Claire's classmates. He was a pretty good little house guest, always very polite, and he joined in all the festivities. He didn't even seem to mind being upstaged by the dramatic arrival of Claire's new puppy, Louie, who viewed Julio as Chew Toy Number One...
James fired up Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard the first day we brought Julio home, and I think we've heard Paul Simon singing that song about five hundred times since then. But it's such a catchy tune, you can't help but chime in every time it plays.
Having Julio around really made me look at things in a whole new light. He reminded us that a little monkeying around is a good thing. And that it's easy to turn any occasion into a special one if you just make up your mind to celebrate. Knowing that we'd share Julio's adventures in the class journal helped us all look at everyday life in a new way.
A few more things we learned from Julio:1. Enjoy the small moments.
2. Don't forget to take LOTS of pictures.
3. Dole out the hugs generously.
4. You can make friends with just about anybody.
5. Oh, and ALWAYS wear your seatbelt...
Bye-bye, Julio, we'll see you on the monkey bars!
