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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Bitter and sweet

Yesterday was the last day of school and I'm not sure who was more excited about it, me or the kids. I am absolutely over homework and field trip chaperoning and "Mom, I need more money in my lunch account" and making sure gym uniforms are clean on the right days.

Kindergarten got out first at 11am. I was standing there waiting when Robbie came running up to me, excited as could be, shouting "Mommy! I'm a first grader!" -- except that he's not. We're having him repeat kindergarten next year, which he obviously does not know yet. So his excitement nearly broke me in two. I just hugged him tight and said "I love you!"

He declared his first grade status several times on the way to the car, so I finally had to say something. But I wasn't about to go bursting bubbles yesterday. Instead, I told him, "Know what? There's no school for three months so that means right now you're a Summer Boy!" We'll tell him the news in a few weeks, once he's had a chance to make friends with some boys on the swim team who will also be in kindergarten next year.

After I picked up Robbie, he and I had a special afternoon, just the two of us. We picked up McDonald's for him and took it to a park to eat. Then we played on the playground for a while. I just love to swing. I don't care how ridiculous I look, there is something wonderfully freeing about my body gliding through the air higher and higher.

From there, we took some leftover cheeseburger bun to a nearby walking bridge and fed the ducks. Of all three of my kids, Robbie is my biggest animal lover. I loved watching how excited he was as the ducks swam over to where he was dropping pieces of bun into the water.

The big kids had an awards ceremony at 1:00pm, but I wasn't in a real hurry to get there. I knew Robbie would be bored and I knew that neither of my other two would be getting one of the first awards, so I figured we could be a little late.

So at 1:10pm, I was standing in the school office talking to the secretary whose daughter is going to babysit for me this summer, when I got a text message: "Annie just won a scholarship!"

What?! They always let the parents know ahead of time if their child is going to win a special award. Had I known, I would have staked out a great seat and had camera -- and probably video camera -- in hand. But in another "not Mother of the Year" showing, I missed it.

When I got to the gym, Annie was heading to get a drink of water. I saw her, gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was. I don't think she realized I wasn't there when they announced her name. It was only after school was out that I learned the scholarship is for $500 toward next year's tuition and was given to one boy and one girl going into the 7th or 8th grade who exhibit a spirit of service. I am so proud of her!

Charlie got a certificate for perfect attendance for the 4th quarter. I always thought perfect attendance awards were stupid -- avoiding the flu does not seem like a notable achievement. But, Charlie was so proud to have a piece of paper in his hands, I was grateful for the award. Maybe next quarter, he'll be back on the honor roll.

We celebrated the last day of school in a variety of ways. Annie went home and spent the night with a friend. Charlie had a buddy spend the night here. Robbie got a new (to him) bike.

None of them are thinking about next school year yet. Though I am mentally catalogging the things I want to do differently/better (like take more pictures -- I have a few that I'll share here later). But that's for another day. Today, I'm just going to enjoy the first day of summer break!

4 comments:

Joanie said...

Congrats to Annie for her scholarship! And congrats to Charlie for perfect attendance!
Enjoy your summer break and good luck when you tell Robbie about Kindergarten.

I remember when I graduated high school, a boy in my class got perfect attendance for all 12 years!
Amazing!!!

Momza said...

Things like that happen all the time to me...I've missed as many as I have attended. And in the long run, the kids only remember the BIG days anyway.
Congrats to Annie on her special acheivement, and to Charlie for being healthy! And Robbie is gonna knock their socks off next year! The success he will gleen will give him so much confidence going into 1st grade, it'll be well worth it!

Yea! for summer!

Sharon said...

Wow!!!
Congrats to Annie-that's awesome! I'm sure you're proud. :)

Perfect attendance, is great, too. I NEVER had that. lol

And the time you had w/ Robbie sounds so nice. Awww. I'm glad you two had that time.

Good Luck w/ the kdg news. Sounds like you already have a good plan.

Enjoy summer break!

Shannon @ Gabi's World said...

Congrats to Annie!

Yeah I don't understand the perfect attendance one either. What about those who live a sickly life because of a medical condition. They should be awarded for making it to school when they can!

Good luck with breaking the news about repeat Kindergarten!

And since when did I move to Fort Knox! I am gonna have a fight with your Feedjit!!!