My name is Jennifer Dixon and I have 'volunteered' to be your class mom for this coming year. Since this is a thankless job, don't expect warm fuzzy emails like you probably got in preschool. Wake up! You're in kindergarten on the mean streets of William H. Taft Elementary School, and it's time to face a few facts.
-- Jen Dixon (email) (chapter 1)

Importance: These are the opening words of Jen Dixon's first email to the fellow parents in her son Max's kindergarten class. Immediately, Jen's jokey attitude is on display, as she decides to begin the year with a tone of mock seriousness, as opposed to actually being serious. Almost immediately, other parents in the class will begin to chafe against Jen's freewheeling attitude.

He's not what I had typically found attractive in the past -- I mean, he doesn't even have a tattoo -- but he has immense charisma and just about the...
-- Jen Dixon (narration) (chapter 1)