Sending ones kids off to Kindergarten for the first time is another one of those first steps that signal the coming end of TOTAL parental influence over the kids (basically another illusion biting the dust). One can argue this is a bad thing, a good thing or a combination of the two, but that is not an argument I want to get into right now---perhaps another time.
I would like for you, my reader, for a moment, to go back to Kindergarten, or at least to think about Kindergarten for a bit---about your own experience of Kindergarten---not your kid's experience of Kindergarten.
Everything I am doing right now as an adult, all started when I was in Kindergarten.
Actually probably sooner, but for the purpose of this exercise, Kindergarten will do. For those of you too old to have gone to Kindergarten...........wait a minute there can't be anyone THAT old!
I still remember Kindergarten and Mrs. Maddox---I loved Mrs. Maddox for sure. 
It was 1952, and the most important thing I remember is "cardboard boxes." I entertain myself with thinking that my parents were listening to Billie Holiday---when I am sure they were listening to Eddie Fisher. Eisenhower became president, and the French were still in Vietnam---I REALLY wish they had stayed there---I REALLY wish Eisenhower was still president. There was no Sesame Street, but Howdy Doody and the Lone Ranger were HUGE. The National Dept would fit inside today's debt 53 times---even with inflation that seems like a lot. As a comparison 53 times the price of gas from 1952 would result in gas costing $13.25 per gallon today. I am sure that if Kindergarten involved any serious math I would have gotten to hang out with Mrs. Maddox for a second year. But as it turned out, I had to head to first grade taught by my Aunt Bea.
I wish I had more memories of Kindergarten, but at least I have a few----probably more than most other grades. I used to construct cardboard box houses for everyone to take naps in. Today, whenever I smell cardboard I am taken back to that time. I remember the boxes being huge---and of course they were huge when I was only 40 inches tall. Just like back then, I still love naps. I have spent most of my life napping building houses or in some way involved with the housing industry. Of course there have been other interests along the way, and I know I was an artsy type even back then in Kindergarten. These early "structures" certainly had a profound affect on the rest of my life, even though back then I would not have had a clue where I was going. Now at least I can "think" I know where I am going---even though the truth is that I am still pretty clueless. Such is the loss of innocence. Kindergarten is also responsible for my early addiction to homemade chocolate chip cookies and milk---now pretty much transformed to straight chocolate.
But now lets get back to the point of this post.
The painful memories of my Last Contest have since gone down the drain and I am ready for another one.
The idea behind this contest is as simple as a kitchen sink: just tell your very own Kindergarten story.
I am quite confident that if you think about it, you can find the roots of what you do now, as an adult, back in those innocent times. Your job now is to tell us all about it.
For this contest there will be the necessary panel of illustrious judges:
Gary Woltol
Alan May
Sally Weatherly
Amy Hahn
Jason Sardi
Carla Muss-Jacobs
Peg Barcelo-Jackson
Charles Buell
Referee extrodinare:
Kerrie Greenhalgh
Of course there will be the obligatory monstrous amount of points, but since this is Kindergarten---the numbers will be appropriate.
1234 x 2 (2468) points for 1st place.
567 x 3 (1701) points for 2nd place.
89 x 4 (356) points for 3rd place.
300 points just for entering (that would be on top of your normal 225 points).
A link to your post must be placed in the comments of this post (This should be adequate to keep me from screwing up this contest).
The contest starts now---and ends at Midnight, East Coast Time, August 31st.
Have fun my fellow Kindergarteners!
Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
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