Wii topping back-to-school recaps

This is the time of year that adults question kids about what they did over the summer.

"I went to Splash Country," had been my first-grader-to-be Mary's typical response.

We went to Splash Country in Aurora for about 90 minutes a couple of weeks ago with another family. That's the only time we went to Splash Country this summer. Perhaps Mary doesn't remember the four-hour Lake Michigan skyline cruise we took the day before.

Surely she hasn't forgotten seeing the cool bug sculptures at Morton Arboretum or Camp Coyote at Peck Farm? What about all the movies we saw - Kung Fu Panda and Fly Me to the Moon at the IMAX, Wall-E, Kit Kitteridge, and all the 10:30 a.m. dollar movies at Randall 15?

I know she remembers all the times I took her to Lifetime Fitness swimming and our countless lunches at McDonald's collecting the Kung Fu Panda characters, Littlest Pet Shop animals and Polly Pockets. The little girls in the neighborhood will remember the hours and hours spent in our basement playing Rayman Raving Rabbids on our Nintendo Wii.

But that was before.

Now if you ask her about what she did this summer she will tell you about the play date we had this week with her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Hebden.

I called Bonnie Hebden late last week and asked her if she could come over and play Wii and Webkinz with Mary and have lunch with us before school starts. Mrs. Hebden will be starting her second year as PM kindergarten teacher at Fearn Elementary School in North Aurora.

She said yes and by Sunday night Mary was so excited that she asked us to put her to bed early so she could rest and be ready for Mrs. Hebden to come over. Mary helped me clean the house. She picked up her toys in the family room without being told and while I was making tuna salad in the kitchen she yelled down to me and announced that she just finished cleaning up her room.

"Is there anything else I can do Mom?" she asked. "I like helping you clean up."

Wow, that's news!

Mary gave Mrs. Hebden a Webkinz chicken at the end of the school year and we were not surprised to find out that Mrs. Hebden still needed help to log in her new friend on Webkinz World. Mary and I helped give Chickie his new home on the Web site.

I was relieved that I served tuna salad instead of chicken salad after Mrs. Hebden informed us that she doesn't eat her friends. All her kindergarten students will tell you how much Mrs. Hebden loves chickens; so much so that the birds are not part of her diet.

Then we took Mary's teacher down to the basement to play bowling on the Wii. Mary made a Mrs. Hebden Mii character.

"Be sure to give my hair that little flip on the ends, Mary," she instructed as Mary clicked on the hair and eyes and mouth on Mrs. Hebden's Wii cartoon character.

When they got the Mii looking just right, Mary demonstrated her bowling skills by rolling a personal high 212 score. I hope Mrs. Hebden doesn't mind me reporting that she started out with a very respectable 99 in her first attempt.

By the second game, Mary's score came down a little to 182 and Mrs. Hebden improved to a 129.

Before the game was over Mrs. Hebden was hooked.

"I haven't played Wii before," she told us. "This is so much fun. I can see how you can just spend all day doing this." Mrs. Hebden said she was even thinking about how some of her morning special ed students would benefit from using the Wii in their therapy sessions at school.

"These games are really motivating. I'll have to see if we can get one for the school," she said.

Seeing Mrs. Hebden was a great transition toward going back to school on Monday morning.

Mary's 7th birthday is today. Last year Mary celebrated her 6th birthday by getting on the school bus and heading for her first day of kindergarten. Before kindergarten started Mary said that she was afraid of riding on the school bus but by Christmas time she announced that she wanted to be a bus driver when she grew up.

This fall Mary is starting first grade with a new confidence and excitement.

Earlier this summer she did share one concern with me. When I mentioned that first graders ate lunch at school, she looked very thoughtful.

Then she said, "That's sad Mom - who's going to eat lunch with you while I'm at school?"

She suggested that I could call Ashlyn's mom down the street. She thought for sure that Grandma and Grandpa would take me out to lunch too!

"And if you don't have anyone to eat with you - you could go to McDonald's - there's always someone there," she said.

I told her those were nice ideas but that I would be all right until she came home. I'm just worried that she eats something - anything at all - for her lunch.

But I know that she'll be fine. I'll be fine.

And I think we will both be better off with fewer McDonald Happy Meals in our diets.