Preschool Graduation!

First off, IT WAS SO FUN! Second off, I CRIED ALL DAY!

So, I reserved the pavilion at the neighborhood park. That's free. Nice, right? There are picnic tables under there, and bathrooms and water fountains right by it. The park has a playground, a sand volleyball court, a LOT of grass to run around on if you don't mind stinging bull nettle, and the said pavilion. Okay, so we got a bounce castle - yeah!!! And... a snowcone machine! That makes a party, people. All the families of my kids came plus Liz and Ethan and Harris. I made some pretty sorry looking cupcakes, but they tasted fine, and the icing was yummy. I had a green party bag for each graduate (grand total of 5) with a star shaped melamine balloon in their favorite color tied to the handle. Of course, then the super-long strings tangled up in the lovely breeze, but Liz untangled them for me. I presented the kids with a certificate for one outstanding trait they demonstrated during the year. And a poem which I was going to read to all the parents, but I would not have been able to speak for all the sobbing, so I just stuck it in their bags. It is this:

 A Note From Ms. Jen

You're a very special person,

And I want you to know.

How I loved to be your teacher,

How fast the weeks did go!

Please come back to visit me

As through the grades you grow,

Try hard to learn all that you can

There is so much to know!!

The one thing I try to teach you

To last your whole life through,

Is to know that you are special

Just because you are you!!!

-Anonymous

I love those kids! Anyway, in their bags I had put a preschool workbook for the summer and a pack of 8 crayons, a picture book about starting Kindergarten (they each got a different one; I ordered them from Gabe's last Scholastic book order so they were inexpensive), an 8x10 photo collage of pix I had taken of them at school during the year (the border was in their fave color, and their names were printed across the bottom; thank you Walgreens.com!), an ABC handprint book they had worked on letter by letter each week of school, and the stuff with their names on it from our classroom. It was really fun to put together and imagine them opening up. PS - one of those smartypants kids has ALREADY completed the entire preschool workbook! He called me on the phone this evening to tell me. No wonder his certificate was for Dedication. 

PLUS, those sweet angel babies made ME presents! A gorgeous hand-painted plate with their signatures on the back; a hand-painted mug; a book about me and that little dude going to the park; a lovely lovely card and gift card. I am SO SPOILED. I get money, fun kids, memories, and gifts! THIS WAS THE BEST JOB OF ALL FREAKING TIME.

Ms. Jen and her Little Grove Learners! And my plate!!

So, I only choked up the one or two times at the big par-tay. I cried on the way home. I think I would have cried all day again today, but I had a playdate with one of my little guys, just me and him, all day today. We painted and made stories and ate leftover cupcakes and played angry birds and got a chicken ready for dinner. (He so helpfully narrated the whole chicken's feelings on the matter, "I DON'T WANNA BE DINNER!" Hilarious.) 

It is very hard for preschool to end. It was the perfect solution (thank you Sarah!) for my empty nest this year. Now, with only one and a half days of school left, I am having to feel the feelings of Gabe being a first grader when I was never even okay with him being a kindergartener, of Charlotte being a 5th grader which is ridiculous, of Harris not being in the same school as my kids next year which kinda breaks my heart as well as theirs, and missing these fantastic five kiddos who have blessed my life all year long. I'm lucky to be aunty to the one girl of the group, and she really made me feel important and needed all year when I had no kids at home. She gives up all kinds of love. One of my little guys is moving, and that makes me cry every day. I can't stand not seeing him go to kinder. He has already invited me to his baptism in three years to make sure I will travel to him. I am super glad the other boys will be nearby to keep up with. Of course, their awesome kindergarten teachers will soon become their new best friends because that is how it works, but I hope that they will remember preschool and feel happy about it. I mean it, I'm a little ridiculous about them. I am just really grateful to their parents for giving me a chance when I had no experience or credentials or, you know, licensing. As I slowly take down my classroom, I think I will make myself a little scrapbook of the year. It was too great to let my crappy memory steal it.

Today I made a rough summer pipe dream list. I've never left it until this late. It'll be okay because the first two weeks of summer they will have swim lessons. And I told them we will be cleaning out their rooms and closets and adding to the chore chart. Plus their lovely teachers sent home some summer work so I don't have to buy workbooks this year. Works for me. I do love summer break!

PLUS I just bought a swimsuit online for...$55! 40% off coupon and free shipping, yo!

Tomorrow is awards day. Gabe can't wait to sing the mystery song he's been practicing. Andy will actually get to come this year, so we will eat lunch with the kids too. That's a great way to end the year. Of course, during family prayer tonight when Charlotte prayed for them to enjoy their awards tomorrow, I started crying. In all the graduation party hoopla I hadn't processed that the year is actually over. Egad. I need to quilt me some therapy, but I can't make the machine work, so I feel angry at it. Nothing makes you cuss like a sewing machine snafu (right Emily? right Delana? I totally used the Rachel Seely swear about forty times. It is very gratifying.)

"RACHEL SEELY!!!"