A while back I put a lot of school posts all together. At the very end, I mentioned that Pearl had a kindergarten program, but I didn't have any pictures. I sure thought that was weird. As a mom, it is your designated roll to take videos/photos of your child at school. I know this because have you ever seen the gym lined with parents and their phones, recording away. Who is even going to look at those pictures again? But they dutifully take them. Me too. (Well, I put mine on the blog so I feel they are seen again, and I'm sure many make it to FB, but there are a ton that just sink into the archives of forgotten photos.) So, I found it strange that an event like a program would go by without any pictures.
The Kindergarten program is one of the most well-attended events. It is CRAZY TOWN in there. The teachers know this and they specifically ask you to leave other children at home. We dutifully left our brood back at our place and took Pearl in all her Kindergarten glory. I planned on meeting Tyler at the school, and I knew he would have his phone, so I left MINE with the kids. It wasn't until later that I realized that all the pictures from that night were on Tyler's phone. (He actually has lots of fun photos that aren't on the blog because I forget about them. Look forward to a post on dumping Raging Stallion's phone.) In the meantime, I was psyched to find that I am not a complete failure as a mother. I mean, I was glad we got some pictures.
However, you probably won't be very impressed. See, we were sitting farther back and it is hard to take pictures between people. This was the best we got of Pearl. (She is still super cute.)
Then we resorted to taking weird selfies to entertain ourselves. (We never claimed to be very mature.)
Jonny was kind enough to save us some seats in the madness. We rewarded him by taking pictures of him without his knowing. (We are such great friends.)
So, you weren't missing much. The program was fun, but I was glad to get outside at the end. Many kids had their Kindergarten graduations the same evening, but not Pearl. Her teacher wanted everyone to come in again the next day. (As if it is super easy for dads to take off work whenever they want.) I did get a picture of Pearl in her cute patriotic colors.
The next day, we were back. I was there anyway, since it happened to be the day Robyn graduated. I went right from a rowdy group of sixth graders to an exuberant group of littles. They are so cute in their caps and gowns.
They practiced for a minute or two and then it was go time. They all left and then came walking back into the room. (This is an important process so you can see that they all learned to walk in a line during the year.) I caught a picture of Pearl as she was coming in.
They sang songs which was a little weird since they had done all of this the night before. But you just go with it and smile. At the end, they each received their diploma and they stood for pictures. Congrats Pearl. As your reward you now have to go to school the whole day for 12 more years.
There was a cute slideshow at the end and we each received a copy to take home. (I was going to put some pictures on here, but I have no idea where I put it. Typical.) It was fun to share Pearl's big day.
And then school ended. Kindergartners got out a day earlier than the rest. Last year I took pictures of the kids with their teachers (and blogged about it promptly) and I really liked that, so I tried again this year. This year was the weirdest for teachers, so I did the best I could. Let's start with the oldest.
JUNE: She was in Jr. High, so she had a lot of teachers. I told her to choose her favorite and get a picture with him. Hands down it was Mr. Hansen, her math teacher. He was a fantastic, dedicated teacher. I heard about him all year. June made him a birthday gift, and every time I ran into him, he only had glowing reports about June. (Well duh...she is amazing. I know.) I even saw him at all the track meets. He really cares for all those kids. (And his beard is exceptional.)
ROBYN: Sorry, I just don't have a picture of Robyn with her teacher. Mrs. Spadafora was great, but she was missing for the last month. The sub was a nice guy, but the last four weeks of school were a total joke. (I may have mentioned this before.) It was all I could do to get the guy to sign her graduation paper. We'll leave it at that. (I still want the lipsync video, but I fear I will never get that.)
IVORY: Ivory's teacher was also gone by the end of the year. She left for health reasons. You can see a picture of Mrs. Boyer at the crack off. (Ooh, actually, you can see Mrs. Spadafora too.) Miss Nelson was their sub. I have nothing against Mrs. Boyer. She has a very fun, eclectic style of teaching, but I feel like Miss Nelson was just the right touch for the end of the year. She was very organized and I think the kids thrived under her short tutelage.
DAISY: Miss Thomas who was actually Mrs. Bingham by the end of the year. She was great. She was well organized and super fun. I couldn't help putting in this silly picture of her with Daisy.
PEARL: Kindergarten is such a chaotic, crazy year. I have to take off my hat to any teacher or aid who takes on the challenge of teaching these young spirits. (It is not for the faint of heart.) Mrs. Brown has been teaching for so many years. She is excellent at what she does. She was always trying to keep the parents happy and informed. I think she did a phenomenal job with Pearl.
It was a strange year to be honest, and next year will be different too as we all transition to a new school. Always an adventure.
The last day of school, I went to collect the kids. Pearl was already with me in the car so we took bets at who would be out first. First out the door was Daisy. I think this kid is ready for summer.
Next out was Ivory. This is a totally fake smile she has on. I don't think she was very happy to leave. She is really going to miss her old school and the friends she made there.
Finally, Robyn was out. She brought Saphira and they went home and played for the afternoon with Abby. She has no regrets as she leaves Elementary Behind.
I of course, was ecstatic to have the kids home from summer. We obviously have been playing hard and having lots of fun. Summer has not been what I expected. Some things have worked well, others have been failures. (Ask me about stations some time. Complete bust this year.) But it is always great to be together as a family.
I know that it will be nice when everyone is back in school. I will have more time than I have ever had before (supposedly) but at the moment, I am just happy to be with my kids. They are my life.
Isn't it interesting how many jokes are made about how parents can hardly wait until their kids are back in school? But you? You love time with your kids and are reluctant to give them back to the hallowed halls of learning. You must have gotten that from Dad's side of the family.
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