Yes, I basically cried all day long.
I cried in Kroger.
I cried in the balloon store.
I cried in the Walmart as we picked out prizes for his class.
I cried the night before and the night of.
I flipped out on Jeremy over the teachers book and broke a kitchen drawer trying to find a pen. I basically was like a New Jersey Housewife….and it was all over the fact that my baby was graduating Kindergarten.
I don’t know if it’s normal or not but for some reason, this event really got to me. I mean….deep in my SOUL. My baby. My sweet little stoic nugget of a squish. My spiderman loving, monster truck racing, baseball playing boy is now an official graduate of kindergarten.
He attended this preschool for kindergarten because we really loved the fact that it was accredited but had a shorter day than normal private and public schools in our area. He probably would have done fine with MORE socialization (Will LOVES his friends so passionately and constantly wants to play with them) but we felt like four hours a day four times a week was appropriate for him at this age. Plus, his school had only 12 kids in a class and two full time teachers so it was a great ratio.
I know that some folks were concerned that I would put the school name out there…but they are all graduating…and this school doesn’t have elementary school grades available so none of these kids will be there anymore.
Each of the kids made this big Kindergarten poster and signed it. And each parent and teacher chipped in to make these boxes on the last day of school.
For the graduation ceremony, Will got to lead his class. This is just so typical of him….a little leader who is responsible enough to handle big tasks. I love that about this dude.
A few students had special tasks – saying prayers and reciting memorized verses. Will recited Psalm 119:11 and I couldn’t wish that more for his life. ALL the kids got to say what they wanted to be when they grew up (Will said a Baseball Player!).
And the kids did half a dozen special songs with sign language! I couldn’t actually see them sign because I was crying but I hear it was beautiful 🙂
Along with their diploma, the teachers also handed out character awards. Will received the award for Dependability. Some might say that is boring compared to Knowledge or Creativity. I say that’s husband material 🙂
I seriously do think that it just shows that the teachers truly know the students. Will is dependable. He is very responsible and I can count on him to do what he says. I rely on him a lot at home to help me with the babies (fetching diapers and keeping his toys away from little fingers and mouths) and to be prepared for school and baseball. I always say that he could be president one day!
After the ceremony we had some giant mylar balloons for him to pose in front of….the process was comical. SOLD!
I think I might get them re-filled so that I can get a better photo during the day light hours.
Gramps and my mom came to the ceremony so we had representatives from Chattanooga and Georgia when it came to grandparents.
And when we got home, we celebrated our little graduate with his favorite treat – a cookie cake and a bag full of summertime goodies (water balloons are always a good idea!).
Such an emotional event. Other moms from his class would come up to me and ask me if I was ok….I think my eye makeup betrayed me. I mean…it’s literally going to be a blink of an eye and all my boys will be graduating high school and then moving on with their lives and then I will be old and alone and drown in my tears and Jeremy will need to hire someone to walk me around gardens and wipe my memory so that I don’t cry everyday all.day.long. Even with all the feelings of pride and excitement….this mama thing is HARD. It’s bittersweet….saying goodbye to the baby-ness when all you see is your baby….moving forward when what is behind you is worth holding onto. Pray for me….this parenthood path I’m on….it’s hard on my heart and I’m racing down it unwillingly with great excitement and grasping at memories like bubbles in the wind. That makes no sense….and all the sense in the world.
Congratulations Dear Sweet Will. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. I can’t believe we get to be with you. You amazes us every day. Keep hiding the Word baby and you will never be alone. A thousand of my kisses and a million of my hugs, Mommy
Congratulations! Yes, I think it is normal. I’m crying that my second one is going into kindergarten!
“Grasping at memories like bubbles in the wind” I can’t even express how well this describes motherhood. It is just that. The transition from baby to child is amazing but rips at your heart.
I feel your pain! My baby boy graduated from High School this year. I am proud of his achievement, but sad that we are closer to him leaving home :(.
…Katie, it’s just kindergarten…
(I know you are feeling super proud and happy, and it’s your blog so you can do whatever you want, and I feel weirdly proud myself considering I don’t know Will, but why would anyone have a graduation celebration for kids? I feel like you could save that for those who actually finish school/university.)
I’m right there with you! My oldest son (I have “only” 3) just finished 5th grade and will be in Youth Group in the fall! :O I can’t even take it right now! I feel like he was just my only sweet little man and I was just dressing and redressing him to take pictures of him in his cuteness because I had nothing else to do all day! 😛
Have you heard Nichole Nordeman’s song “Slow Down”? I ma word! Talk about tears!
Solidarity with the boymamas who aren’t quite willing to accept the changes! 🙂
What a sweet post – it brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. I can’t believe how much Will has grown since I’ve been reading your blog.
I’m crying just reading this! I register my oldest for Kindergarten tomorrow morning and I have been dreading it for over a year.. you are spot on about how hard it is and how graspy it makes me feel. I’m sending love and commiserations your way!
You sound just like me at my little girl’s graduation. My face was red from crying. It is hard.:(
I felt the exact same way. the end of kindergarten was so much worse than than beginning. The end of the baby days just seemed so final. The coming years will indeed go so lighting fast, but it’s ok mama. Each age brings new excitement and challenges. Your boys will grow, thrive, and be successful, each in their own way. THEN you get to be a grandma and I can promise you this- it’s even better!
Aww. I cried when my daughter graduated preschool. She cried when kindergarten was over because she didn’t want to leave her teacher. It was hard on her. So this year, we pointed that out because she loved her 1st grade teacher and I was afraid of her crying again. She was sad but already looks forward to 2nd grade. Now when it’s my son graduating preschool (my last baby), I may lose it even more. But then I’ll also be celebrating the whole “no more child care expenses!” so who knows!!
I assume you are from a different country since you called it university…but here in my area it is very common to celebrate kindergarten graduation. There generally aren’t ceremonies for every other grade (some schools do elementary and then middle) but yeah, it’s sort of the starting line for a lot of kids and that is why it is celebrated. So yeah, it is only kindergarten but it’s also the start of something big 🙂
xo kb
Congratulations to him and so sorry for you!
xo kb
We have pictures from my brothers preschool graduation and that was in 1987.. so it’s not like this is some new strange thing. Although he did wear a white trash bag instead a nice gown like Will!
LOL, thank you for turning the balloons around. Duh, I couldn’t figure out why you had SOLD. Go ahead and laugh! I introduced myself to you at Cheesecake Factory the other year.
Forget putting the name of the school out there – what about the faces of all the other kids? Or did you get consent from all of the parents? I am adament about keeping pictures of my kids off the internet and social media and would be furious if another parent publicly posted pictures of them without my consent.
Why assume she’s from another country? She could have meant that it could be for those that finish all 13 years of school and for those that finish college. Since you know many colleges are university.
I feel your pain. When I took my older daughter to Kindergarten almost four years ago, I was not prepared for the tears. I found myself stealing tissues from mothers I did not even (yet) know and wiping away rivers of mascara as I had planned to go right to work. Luckily those moms were gracious. Fast forward to this week, and I take my younger daughter to her kindergarten orientation (she will also be graduating from Bright Beginnings preschool – though one here in the Boston area!). I am so sad – mostly because she is extremely anxious – so I am nervous for her – but I’m also sad that my baby is growing up. It doesn’t matter that it’s “only kindergarten” – it’s what it represents that makes it bittersweet. I appreciate you sharing your real life moments with us!
Congratulations Will! “Grasping at memories like bubbles in the wind” is a beautiful way that describes what I’ve been feeling as my oldest graduates from 8th grade and my baby graduates from kindergarten, both on Wednesday. From a fellow #boymom, hold on, because it goes so fast, but it is so fun!
I so, so get it – more than you know! I too think I cried way more than most moms – embarrassingly so. I could not stop my tears. At all. I cried at the end & beginning of every school year for quite a few years and then it gradually got easier. I still get sad, but not as much. It probably seems impossible right now for you to think that it will eventually get easier, but it will. I promise. I’m only two years older than you, but my babies are in 7th and a freshman in college. I thought I would completely fall part last year when I simultaneously had one graduating high school and one graduating elementary. I was definitely sad, but I think kinder was harder for me.
I always see these beautiful pics of your boys and think how lucky you are to still have little ones running around, makes me want to have more sometimes 🙂
Hang in there momma, you got this 🙂
I asked 🙂
xo – kb
Hi Tammie! So fun to hear from you!
xo – kb
I assume that because she said school/university….where as I think most Americans would say high school/college…also I can look up IP addresses 🙂
xo – kb
Stick a fork in me!!! My son is turning one tomorrow and this post was probably not what I needed as I try to be strong!! LOL. But so resonated with me. So far, I think parenting a trick where all the babies grow up and leave us behind!! Way to go, Will! (If this is me at 1, I’ll be a goner by kindergarten graduation )
(I met you at YHL event a couple years ago, fellow homeschooler & we both know the Doublesteins!)
Oh yes! Hi Sarah! You will be a hot mess. Max turns one this month and I lost it yesterday! haha!
xo – kb
If you can check IP addresses, then why use the word “assume”? Why not just say, ‘I see that you aren’t from the US’ or ‘I noticed that you hail from a different country’? If you have the power to know, and it is your blog so you should have that ability if it’s available to you, then disclose that honestly. Where I’m from, the parochial and private schools celebrate kindergarten or head start graduation, but not public schools. The budgets are stretched thin enough the way it is. They have an end of the year program which is enough for most busy parents.
When my oldest got on the bus to go to kindergarten, I was crying so hard that all of the pictures are foggy..(old school camera with film) .I steamed up the camera! When my second child went got on the kindergarten bus, I handed the camera to the neighbor, she wasn’t crying and the pictures turned out great. Kidlette #1’s memory book for kindergarten send off will be truly memorable!
Sweet 🙂
Congratulations Will! And yes, Katie, it is hard to watch them finish each stage and move on to the next one. There will be more tears ahead and lots of joy. We only have one boy so each of these events was extra bittersweet for me. Sending you lots of hugs!
Your surprise must be a cultural thing. It’s actually pretty common here in the U.S. I’m 46 and having some type of graduation celebration as you finished each stage of schooling was pretty typical when I was a kid and continues to be the norm now. Some schools call it “promotion” rather than graduation when it’s something other than high school, but I’ve heard it called both, and the idea is the same either way. You’re celebrating a milestone in your child’s life, and there are lots of milestones in life worth celebrating!
Just because someone is using a computer in a different country doesn’t mean she is from there right? So I assume. That’s honest.
xo kb
From one mama’s heart to another I am saying a prayer for you right now lady. My oldest baby is turning 5 in a month and I keep looking at him and searching his little freckled face hoping to see any of his babyness left….it’s almost all gone. How did the last 5 years go by so fast? And now sitting on my bed in the middle of the afternoon crying for you and for me and it’s a big hot mess! (Also, do not go and read The Nester talk about 18 summers. Your boy mama heart probably won’t be able to take it.)
Oh yes, I stay away from her posts about big kids. It literally breaks me!
xo – kb
Crying reading this because I feel you!
Saying university is uncommon? I”m sure Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and about 1000 other post-secondary schools in the US would find that interesting.
I think people are reacting to this specifically because your response to the original poster had a snippy tone.
“It’s only Kindergarten.”
Sigh.
Perspective changes people. But even without a tragedy, I still cried my eyes out at PRESCHOOL graduation, Kindergarten graduation, 5th grade graduation. I also cry my eyes out at every single IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting I have for my 13 year old son who gets Special Needs assistance in school and always has.
Our beloved elementary school has a summer program for school aged kids. Four years ago, on the first day of the summer program, a child who had just graduated Kindergarten (where there was a graduation program that I’m sure his momma teared up at) the Friday before, walked into the bathroom feeling sick to his stomach. He then collapsed and by the time the EMT’s got there, he was already gone.
I bet his parents didn’t think that his Kindergarten graduation was “just Kindergarten”. And I don’t know a single momma that doesn’t tear up over milestones; no matter how small they seem or how young their child is. Letting go and watching our kids grow is hard. It’s good; but it’s also hard.
Katie: You cry whenever you want. I sure do. Im an emotional mess when it comes to watching my kids grow and change. On one hand, it’s amazing to watch them soar. On the other hand, I have a hard time letting go.
When your kids are all under 6, Kindergarten graduation IS the biggest graduation you’ve ever had to make it through. No one should be telling you to “wait until it’s high school! Or college!”. I bet you’ll cry then, too. I know I will. And that is SO ok!
Katie, you are way more gracious than I. And “it’s just Kindergarten” really rubbed me the wrong way. How blessed are we who get to see our kids reach all these graduations. Not everyone does. And tears; well, God gave us tears. I use mine at EVERY milestone – whether my kids are one or ninety-one.
I’m in the US and kind of giggled at the cap and gown and all for Kindergarten, too, but here in our public schools we don’t do that (by “here” I mean my school district). But I scratched my head more at “keep hiding the Word baby”, though maybe that’s a typo? Heh. It’s all good. Half the blogs I read it’s like an anthropology class… “People DO that?” “People BUY that?” “People THINK that?” That’s the interesting part!
Really? Because that is not what I was trying to be at all! And from where I am from, they call it “going to college”…or “going to college at a university”….not “going to university”. Maybe this is one of those culturally different things that occurs even in the US verbiage….like soda and pop and coke.
xo – kb
Awww he is absolutely adorable. Congrats!!
I totally understand. I cried at my daughter’s Pre-K Meet-The-Teacher Night because I was all caught up in thinking about her growing up and moving on. The teacher felt bad and thought she said something wrong. 🙂
All the feels! My middle child graduates from high school in 3 days. I thought I was handling it pretty well until I was driving and heard the song that was played at her freshman orientation on the radio. It took me right back and I realized those 4 years were gone in a blink. Sob! Each graduation with each child is a (tough for mamas) milestone! Congratulations to Will!
Haha. That’s really sweet of her actually 🙂
xo – kb
Can’t believe Will will be going into 1st grade!
My oldest just finished up last year in preschool and that had me so weepy thinking how fast it’s going.
Ps. I can’t believe how harsh some of these people are coming down on you. You do you, Katie. Cry if you want to.
So fun!!! I firmly believe nothing is too little to be celebrated, so it is cute to see schools go all out for Kindergarten graduations… the cap and gowns are adorable and hilarious at the same time. Congrats Will!