Noah's Last Day of Kindergarten
Noah's last day of school was yesterday. They go really late here because of all the holidays and long weekends in this marvelous country ;) The van is finally in the shop so in order for me to attend the pomp and circumstance I worked out a deal with the bus driver. I sweetened my prospects with the promise of one blonde-haired cutie pie that the driver and bus monitor simply adore (and lovingly call "el rubio" which means blondie). We all rode together on the bus there and back... Tristan was very very excited and even brought his backpack which was stuffed with a diaper, wipes, and his blanket (for emergency use only).
Tristan was the bell of the ball. All the kids were huddled around him most of the time, showing him around and touching his hair. He held the favor of every little girl in that class on the playground. They took him everywhere with them, which made my time there significantly easier. Noah proudly introduced him to everyone and announced Tristan had peed on the potty 17 times to everyone he happened to run into. He's so proud of his little brother :) The graduation ceremony didn't start until 9:30 so we had one hour to burn. We chose to kill time in the library. It was kind of a mess since it was the last day of school, but still a very cool place to kill an hour.
When the time came to hand out certificates I met a few Moms and Dads, mostly Moms. I am not very social usually and everyone there was older than me and probably richer and powerful-er (yes I know it's not a word) so I felt out of place. I hid behind my camera most of the time, which got me a little attention anyway. Everyone asked me to share my pics with the rest of the class since my camera is ginormous and when I would shoot it sounded like the paparazzi had arrived. Sure thing! Noah's teacher is great. She made a slideshow presentation of all their major activities during the year with voice clips of the kids explaining what they were doing at the time. Adorable!! She also made it a point to say something personal and positive about each child when they got their certificate. She said Noah is the oldest of 3 boys so you can imagine how independent he was when he first got here, but now he really participates in class and works well with the group. Right on! I really do see a change in my little guy. He's a much better listener and his OCD habits of needing everything his way have tapered off quite a bit. Thank you, Mrs. Breuning :)
After the presentation everyone ate fruit and cakes. The kids talked and laughed, the parents talked and laughed. It was a really nice party. Everything was calm... you wouldn't think we were in a room full of 5 and 6 year olds. The kids were so cooperative and responsible. They had gotten attached and were like a little family. We got them together for their "family" photo and then one by one they left the K3 classroom for the last time. Since we rode the bus we were some of the last ones there. I watched the class being packed up and cleaned out while the kids played games and did puzzles on the rug, sneaking in a few more snacks before going home. I was fine. Until...
Something in me snapped. I was looking at Tristan, admiring the way he was being so well-behaved and playing with the other kids like he was their age. Then I remembered... Noah was his age, and it wasn't but a second ago that he was Brennan's age. I saw the classroom transform from colorful, vibrant playtime to wrapped up, locked down furniture all around these little babies... and they just kept playing while we closed up this chapter of their lives. But they weren't babies. And it just killed me. So I cried like a Mommy, quietly in the classroom, as I watched my boys grow up right before my eyes. Ugh!!! I am crying AGAIN!! A couple other Moms were still there, hanging on to their last moments as well so I turned and admitted "I didn't think this was going to be sad for me, but it's really sad for some reason"... of course it is, it's a big step, they're growing up. At least I wasn't alone in the way I was feeling. I wasn't the first, and I won't be the last Mom to cry at Kindergarten haha.
The ride home Tristan and I sat together, Noah sat next to one of his friends behind us a few rows. Independent as always. Tristan was given candy galore, which he accepted with a "si" and "grahya" (his version of gracias). And that was that. Next year Noah will be in first grade and I'm sure I'll cry all over again :P ::sigh:: motherhood is rewarding, but rough.
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