The Last Day of School

Wednesday, May 12, was Joshua's last day at preschool. Aunt Erica was with us as we dropped him off and picked him up from school.

I was a little sad to see this year come to an end for him. While it will be great not to have to go anywhere on a schedule for a few months, he loved going to preschool and got to do many activities that he wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to try. He also had made little friends this year, and he adored his teachers. We had gotten little gifts that he gave them that morning. For each one, we blew up a photo of him and them together and put it in a frame. [I figure they can always use a picture frame even if they didn't want to keep the actual pictures displayed.] We got a thank you card that said about the smile they put on his face, which I thought was adorable. Then we added a little gift card to the inside of the card as the 'real' gift. These are the pictures we used, and then here they are opening them that morning.

Joshua didn't really understand the concept of the final day - not seeing many of these folks ever again. His closest friend this year was a boy named Ethan who won't be coming back next year because his mom is going back to work and needed something full day for him. And, since he doesn't live in our school district, they may never cross paths again. I was a little teary, but Joshua didn't really even say goodbye. Shawn reminded me that we're the ones that understand goodbyes; he hasn't had to experience that yet. We've said goodbye to high school friends and grown apart from college friends, not meaning to but that's the way life goes at times. So, we understand what it means to not see our close friends every day or possibly ever again. But, the Bean really doesn't so he wasn't sad in the slightest.

When we went to get him, he was sitting on Mrs. Hilton's lap as Mrs. Ford was reading her typical story to the class. They had had a pizza party that day to celebrate the year's end.

He received a diploma from completing the year, along with a 'report card' on things that he could and couldn't do, or what we had to work on. He doesn't alternate feet to go up and down stairs, and he doesn't hop on one foot. He received a check mark for everything else, though, including potty trained "with few accidents." [Poor little guy is still horrified when the laxative kicks in and he's completely unaware until it's too late. But, hopefully that will be resolved this summer and he'll be back in business.] He received a check for stringing beads, cutting & pasting, etc. It was interesting to see things evaluated that I've never even thought of before.

He also received an envelope with a book he had completed throughout the year. The one had an expression from Joshua. "Today we painted with dandelions (I remember him coming home yellow!). The flowers grow and then the lions come and eat them all up." Haaaa!!! It made no sense, but it sounded like a Bean comment. I loved the little book, which included some of his artwork and his finger prints and things about him that make him special to us.

Goodbye, Calvary Preschool, teachers and friends. We'll see you in the fall!