Kindergarten Farewell

On Thursday, Henry's kindergarten teacher said goodbye to her 25 "Smart Cookies".    I was not looking forward to this day, no matter how momentous the milestone.  Or maybe because the milestone was so momentous.  I knew I'd cry but I was surprised that no one else did.  Except the teacher.  She has worked tirelessly and passionately with her "short friends", six hours a day, five days a week.  She did an incredibly thorough job preparing them for first grade and beyond.  Needless to say, she has set the bar very high for all future teachers in my sons' lives.

Having been a teacher for seventeen or so years before my son started his formal schooling heightened my feelings around his kindergarten experience.  It took me forever and a day to choose a school in the first place.  No one was more surprised than me when I picked a parochial school.  I was so nervous the first day--for many reasons.  But I'll say this, the professionalism of all the staff, especially Henry's teacher and aftercare supervisors, put me at ease within a week.

Although we don't attend church there (nor are we even a member of that denomination) in some ways it quickly felt like home.  Not that I'm not snubbed by quite a few parents.  That's okay, they don't interact with my child and I'm a grown-up, I don't need to be friends.  I think it's merely a matter of there being an inner and outer circle:  stay-at-home, neighborhood moms with five kids who have been attending the school forever and the rest of us who were just looking for a small school with high standards.

You'd never know it from the awkward photo I've chosen to post, but I took quite a few pictures and videos.  I don't really want to post them here though because they feature many of his classmates.  I'm not comfortable putting pictures of other people's kids on my blog.  I know, it happens all the time--I'm sure there are quite a few group shots on Facebook that feature Henry in the background.  Guess it's all part of living in this century, I just don't want to do it here.

Through my tears, I watched Henry's class do a wonderful performance of "Click, Clack, Moo" before walking across the stage and receiving their diplomas chocolate chip cookies.  I like the idea that it wasn't a "graduation" with caps and gowns.  I'm DEFINITELY not ready for that.

Henry, still wearing his ears from the play .
He's holding the cookie and eyeing the treat table.