If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The last week around here has been somewhat emotional to say the least. I knew this was going to be a tough time for me when the year started because my three school aged kids have been reaching some milestones in life.
My oldest has completed 8th grade and is going onto high school next year. My middle daughter has completed 5th grade and is going onto middle school next year. And my son completed his first year of Kindergarten. And while he’s not moving on with most (perhaps all?) of his classmates to 1st grade and all day school next year it was still an emotional time because he had grown so much from a year ago and seeing that on display does have an affect on a mom.
We Had A Rough Start
Things did not come easy this year. Between the bus issues with my son and the class scheduling issues with my oldest daughter I wasn’t sure how we would make it through the year. I had such high hopes for the year so I tried so hard to stay positive.
And the positivity paid off. As we rounded out the year my oldest daughter really came into her own. She was finally placed in the classes she was supposed to be in from the start of the year and she began to show her teachers what she was made of. She even began to really like her math teacher who she started out the year not caring for too much. And much to her surprise and delight she aced her Social Studies final. She was disappointed in her math final, but I know she tried her best on there. And it doesn’t matter because her teacher did see what she was capable of and recommended her for accelerated math in high school next year. She is ending the year with all A’s and B’s.
My middle daughter actually probably had the best year of everyone from start to finish. And as you all already know her hard work paid off when she was awarded the President’s Education Award on Monday. She got accepted into a special school of the arts for middle school next year. She even managed all A’s and B’s on her report card. All in all it was just a great year for her. So many doors have opened up. And she has a bright future ahead.
My son, while not moving onto 1st grade next year he did great. He has really shown marked improvement over the last two months of school. Not so much that I think it’s silly to have him repeat Kindergarten mind you, but enough that I am confident he will do really great next year. That he will be a role model to the other kids in his class and he’ll go onto 1st grade next year with all of the skills he needs to be truly successful. He will have a leg up too because all of his teachers already know where we need to work with him so we can hit the ground running to start Kindergarten again next year.
When it all came to an end on Tuesday though, I began to fall apart.
I Held Up So Well Until Then Too
I made it through my son’s Kindergarten Celebration on Thursday with not even a hint of a tear. He was so cute up on stage singing the songs he had been learning all year and had been practicing so hard for the last few weeks of school. We had heard a few of the songs sung around the house for weeks leading up to it. He was on mark and singing up there. Something he didn’t really do last year for his preschool celebration. I held it together in spite of knowing how much he had grown in such a short time though.
Then Friday brought my oldest daughter’s 8th grade dance. Not a tear shed there. I think I was too excited and nervous for her. Hoping she would have a good time. And she did, in an aloof teenagery sort of way. She couldn’t let on to me that it was a lot of fun because that would have made me right. So we got an, “It was okay!” response out of her when she arrived home. I’m sure it was a night to remember for her though.
Monday came and my daughter won her President’s Education Award. Still, no tears over that. I was and am extremely proud of her, but I think I was just so excited that she was recognized that the actual gravity of it all just hadn’t hit me.
It hit me Tuesday. When my oldest was walking in to the graduation procession music for her 8th grade graduation. Right then and there, it wasn’t even just about my oldest. It was everything. The thought that I’ll be doing this 3 more times, that my kids are moving on, that they are growing and becoming successful. In 4 years when I hear that graduation procession again for my oldest daughter she will be going off to college. And that was what go to me. We are so close to the end of our time with her and I’m not ready for it to be over. I try not to dwell on this too much and think about it because I want to live in the moment and not be worrying about what the future will bring, but when you’re there celebrating your children’s academic accomplishments it’s kind of hard not to think about how close you are to sending them off on their own.
But now we are enjoying our summer. Planning some day trips and mostly just trying to have a lazy summer around here. Before we know it school will be starting back up for the older three. My two oldest are off to new schools. Here’s to a fun summer and a great start to school for next year.
How did you do with the end of the school year this year?
