Yesterday was a very poignant day for me. Karri spoke a few weeks ago about Kindergarten graduations and I have to admit that while I don’t totally disagree with the idea of celebrating mediocrity as we mark these days of passing from the K hallway to the 1st grade hallway – it was still a wonderful and it was sad and it was fun and I laughed and I wanted to cry.
My husband described it as a great moment; a moment that said not only is she a school age child, but that she’s done. She’s no longer a school novice. When she started kindergarten, I was so ready for it and my husband was so sad. When she graduated though, the days counting down to it were hard for me. I was really engaged in this Kindergarten year, I watched her struggle with the social skills, expanding her horizons, broadening her knowledge of math and so much more.
Milestones
Yesterday was a milestone for us. I spent the morning in her class, chatting with the teacher and watching the kids draw their pictures and say their own goodbyes. They were all riled and ready to go – they wanted to walk across the stage and get their kindergarten diplomas. For many of them, this meant school was over the summer. The room was bare, all the projects and artwork that typically decorated the walls were gone and it was over.
She wasn’t a kindergartener anymore. She doesn’t need us to walk her to class. She doesn’t need us to read her the instructions. She doesn’t need us the way she did before Kindergarten. And here I go getting all maudlin, but this is of course where the co-parent and husband comes in and rescues me from my own sense of morose feeling.
We did it – she made it through kindergarten. She did it because we were there for her and that’s not going to stop and so what if she doesn’t need us to read to her or to walk her to class or to add up the numbers … but she wants us to. She wants us and we did that. We made her out of thin air and she wants us and she loves us and that’s a whole lot better than just needing us.
He’s right. We did it. She did it and now we’re entering into a new phase of our lives together – summer vacation.
What are your plans for summer?
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