Shaving Foam

Today is the first day of the week. They taught me in kindergarten that it's called Monday. And that it comes after Sunday, when we order pizza at night and Flo lets me watch the goals on TV. Mom told her that I like to watch the goals, so she lets me go to bed later to watch Futbol de Primera, my favorite TV show. Then there's The Fantastic League and The Power Rangers, but soccer is my favorite.

My red school smock is warm, because I just had it ironed. It's not too cold so I'm just wearing the smock with my class badge, The Apples, on it, and a blue jogging suit underneath. Red is my favorite color, because it's from my soccer team River Plate and Dad's rugby team. That is why I like to wear my school smock; because it is red and is has a red apple on it. My bike Anacleta is also red. And like every morning when I go to the kindergarten, I ride my red bike Anacleta, and my godmother Flo, who now lives with me, accompanies me with my little sister Azul, who rides in her stroller. She doesn't know how to walk yet, she is still learning. She can't even say my name yet! She's tiny, but she's a little cheeky. Sometimes I still think she fights me. At first, I didn't know what it would be like to have a sister. Now it seems like fun, although sometimes I feel like being myself again.

My kindergarten is close to home. I live on Peña and Barrientos, as I was taught to say. On the second floor of Peña and Barrientos. There are many buildings on the block. But when I tell someone that I live on Peña and Barrientos, they seem to know exactly which one is mine. And my kindergarten is so close, it takes us no time at all to get there with Anacleta. Maybe it's because I'm getting better and better and I'm almost ready to stop using the wheels. Hello Kitty is the name of my garden. And all my friends go there. Joaco is my best friend, and Vicky is my girlfriend. Joaco is a bit of a scaredy-cat and doesn't like to sleep over. I always have to go to his house. He also doesn't like to play soccer very much. He's not very good at it. But he is very good at playing with toys. And especially Power Rangers. I'm always red, because it's my favorite color. And he's the black one. We make a good team and the bad guys can never beat us. With Vicky it's different. She likes to play soccer a little more. But she's not very good either. I kick too hard, she tells me every time it's her turn to be the keeper. So when I go to her house we play with the Playmobiles. She has a lot of them. She has the whole collection of cowboys and astronauts. And we have a lot of fun playing with her Playmobiles.

Giselle is my kindergarten teacher. She is very nice and I love her very much. Every class we play with new things and laugh a lot. Sometimes we play with play dough; sometimes we bake cookies; on the terrace, we play with hoops and balls. But today we did the best thing: playing with shaving foam.

Dad lets me play with his when I watch him shave. I get in the bathtub and he shaves. From there we play. And everything is a mess and Mom tells us we have to clean up the mess we made. With Dad, we look at each other, laugh, and keep playing. He loves to draw on the bathroom glass. He is very good at it. He knows how to draw a player kicking. And he makes a foam ball and throws it for me to catch. I have to be careful not to get it in my eyes because it stings. When the water gets cold and we finish playing, Dad and I roll ourselves into a towel and get out of the bathroom. He gets a rag and cleans up our mess. I don't know how he does it, because I don't get it, but every time he comes back with the rag he winks at me and tells me to go change, if not I'll get sick.

I haven't played with foam for a long time. Dad doesn't have to shave much lately. Now he is bald.

When Giselle asks us to put away the crayons and papers and clean the tables because we are going to play with the foam, it reminds me of Dad and why I like Mondays so much. Going to the garden is great and I see all my friends and my girlfriend Vicky. We play and Giselle teaches us things. But what I like most about the first day of kindergarten is when I go home. Because it's the day when the letters from Mom and Dad arrive. And with presents for us!

Last time they sent me some Lion King sheets that are my favorites. Because The Lion King is my favorite movie. I don't know any soccer movies. But I still don't think there is a better one than the Lion King. When Simba meets Timon and Pumba and they sing Hakuna Matata and Simba grows up is the part I like the most. I think I look a little bit like Simba, because I am blond and because he is far away from his parents.

So when the day in kindergarten is over, I'm happier than when it started. Flo is waiting for me with Azul in the stroller. And Anacleta is next to her, waiting for me to go back to Peña and Barrientos. I tell Flo that today we played with foam and that I taught the other kids that they have to be careful not to get it in their eyes because it stings. Because I learned that from when we played with Dad. And she smiles and gives me a big kiss. And then I get on Anacleta to go home. How well Anacleta rides! I can dodge almost everything in the sidewalk. And go faster and faster. But I always have to wait for Flo to cross the street. I can't cross the street alone, because I'm little and my Mom told me not to do that.

When we get on the big elevator, because we have a lot of big things (Azul's stroller and my bike) I ask Flo to push the button. We don't have to go up very far. We live on floor one. And I know how to count to 19 so I know what that button is. It's really cool. Inside the elevator, I remember that today is Monday and that Mom and Dad's letters are coming and I ask Flo if anything arrived. She looks at me, and smiles. She tells me to be patient, that we are almost there. Patience? What does that mean? Never mind, we are already getting off the big elevator. And it seems to me that something is coming today. Because Mom and Dad love Azul and me very much, and they will never forget us.

As soon as I open the door, I see two huge packages. But then I realize that it is only one, and the other one was just the same package I saw in the mirror. The entrance of the house has a huge-huge mirror. It takes up the whole hallway and there is no wall left. And that's why I thought there were two packages, not just one.

I run to the package, which has red paper, because Mom and Dad know it's my favorite color because it's from River and Dad's rugby team, and I tear it all into little pieces. What I find hidden under the paper is a Babar dummy. Babar is an elephant that travels around the world. His home is where the Eiffel Tower is, and Mom and Dad are there. I always tell them I love them to the top of the Eiffel Tower, because it is so tall and that means I love them that much. I love Babar. But elephants are not my favorite animals. I like lions like Simba. But Babar is not an elephant like others. He knows how to drive planes, and boats, and trains. And he has lots of friends. So Babar looks like a good elephant to me. I think he is my second favorite animal. He doesn't look like me like Simba does. He's not blond and he's already a daddy. When he goes out in the world he always comes back home, with his little elephant children.

Mom and Dad are going to do the same. They are coming home with Azul and me. We are not little elephants ourselves. But we are their children, and they love us very much, like Babar. And like Babar, they will bring us gifts from their travels.

And there is more inside the red package. Mom and Dad sent us a postcard. All their packages have postcards. Flo taught me that those papers with pictures and writing on them are called postcards. And Mom and Dad send them from where the Eiffel Tower is, and it travels a long way to get to Peña and Barrientos. I don't know how they do it. Maybe Babar is in charge of that. In one of his stories he drives a plane and goes around delivering letters. I'm sure he knows that I live in Peña y Barrientos, because once when Flo was reading us the story, I told Babar that I live in Peña y Barrientos. In case he ever had a letter for me.

Now Flo is about to read us the postcard. That postcard has the little pictures of Dad's books that I love. He has all those books. And in perfect order. In the living room, above the stereo. Before going to sleep, I always ask Dad to read me one of his stories with drawings. It's about two crazy people with a little dog who fight against the bad guys. They have a magic potion that they drink and they are really strong and they beat the bad guys to death. Asterix and Obelix are their names. One is short and the other is big and fat. They both have mustaches, like all their friends. In this postcard, they are lifting one of those stones that Obelix always has. When Dad left, he explained to me that he was going to where the Eiffel Tower is and also to where Asterix and Obelix live. I told him to make friends with them, because they are very strong. And that they can give him some of their magic potion. Dad was stronger than them. He didn't even need the magic potion. He could lift me up in the air and make me fly. But now he can't, because he's tired. And he has to lie in bed.

The postcard says they miss us and they love us very much and they are happy because we are with Flo who takes care of us and spoils us. But it also says that Mom and Dad are going to New York now. That they will no longer be in the land of the Eiffel Tower and Asterix and Obelix. They say that now they are going to a place with a statue almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower, and that I am going to love it. They promise me that the next postcard will have a picture of the statue. And they also say that Tere and Caio will accompany them.

Tere and Caio are my grandparents. They are my dad's parents. On Sunday, which is the day we order pizza and Flo lets me watch the goals, they came to visit us. They said they missed Dad very much and that's why they were going to visit him. So I already knew they were going with Mom and Dad. I asked them if I could go with them. But they told me that I have to stay to go to kindergarten. So I can't go to visit them or to see the Eiffel Tower or that other statue. Tere and Caio promised to bring me a new soccer ball if I behave well and learn a lot in kindergarten.

I miss Mom and Dad very much and I want to play with them again. But I also want a new ball because mine is worn out. They are long gone. So I can wait a little longer. Maybe patience means that: Wait a little bit longer.

Only if they bring me a ball.

One for a penalty shoot-out with my Dad.