Last Day of Pre-school

 

The end of May brought the last day of pre-school.  It was the passing of an era.  I remember so clearly balancing a baby Andrew on my hip as I hugged a 3 year old little Matthew so tightly as I said goodbye.

Here is Matthew at 3, when we started Circle of friends seven years ago.   Kaitlin wasn't even a part of our family yet!  I remember how my heart ached on that day to let him go.  He was fine, but I struggled to hand him over.



I had no idea on that day what this sweet school would grow to mean to our family.

We started attending Columbia Pres. (where our pre-school is housed) because of COF.  When I was in the hospital with complications after having Kailin the pre-school director called one of the church pastors who came and sat with Dan while I was in surgery.  We joined the church shortly thereafter.  Through this school we have made dear friends.  We found a church home & a church family.  Our faith has grown and blossomed as a result.   This little school has meant a lot to me ~ more than I ever would have anticipated when looking for a pre-school.  I loved the teachers.  Loved the director.  It was a wonderful experience and I am sad to see this precious stage in our life pass by, because really, there are few things in life sweeter than a pre-schooler and I will miss having one at home.

We didn't do carpool on the last day of school and so I just had Kitti with me.  As soon as I turned into the parking lot the tears started flowing. 

Another thing we will miss at pre-school is this darling girl.

 
 
We do not attend the same elementary school as Shannon's kids.  Andrew struggled a bit to not have his Claire there taking care of him in Kindergarten.  While I know Kitti will really miss Grace, I know she'll be just fine next year. But we will miss getting to share our days with Shannon and Grace.

Kaitlin had a loose tooth and she sat down in circle time and she and Gracie were so cute comparing their teeth.  Grace has already lost quite a few so Kaitlin was excited to join the ranks.

 

It was an emotional morning for me.  I loved this stage in our life, and I am sad to see it go.  Our life has followed the routine and rhythm of the pre-school school calendar for a long time.  The school traditions have come to feel like family traditions and I will miss them.

I know new traditions will form and there is so much fun to be had and new friends to make when Kaitlin steps through the doors at Fox.  We will embrace and enjoy our time there just as we have at COF.  I look forward to that and will make the most of that time.  But for this one day, I allowed myself to acknowledge and feel the sadness of seeing this time go....

I walked down the hall from my last pre-school drop off with one of those familiar "mom" aches in my heart.  A "heartstrings" moment that you read about but never really made sense to me before.  I get it now...that pull on my heart that happens when I feel like I deposited a piece of my heart somewhere have had to move on and leave it behind.