Ella's 2009 school portrait
Ella plays Duck, Duck, Goose on the beach with some of her preschool classmates at the end of year picnic.
Today is the last day of Ella's first year of preschool.
Her last day greeting hello to Ms. Sarah and Ms. Kalie. Her last day playing out on the school playground with her 11 favorite buddies. Her last day performing her assigned job (maybe she will get to be the line leader - the ultimate prize among the preschool set). And it is my last day to have two hours of blissful quiet during the afternoon while Claire naps and Ella is at school.
Now, I know that three-year-olds don't necessarily need preschool. I
am sure Ella would have been just fine without it, but I couldn't have
asked for a better school experience for her this year. She has looked
forward to going to school each day and has formed a special bond with
every one of her 11 classmates. I'm pretty sure each one has been
declared her best friend at some point in time during the year. Ella's
teachers have told me that Ella is the quiet one in class (yet another
example of how much she reminds me of myself as a child), but I have
seen her gain so much confidence in social settings this year. She will
initiate introducing herself to other children that she happens to meet
at the park or library and makes new friends easily. Oh yeah, and she learned all about how insects have six legs. You can't beat that.
One of my
favorite things to witness this year was the way that all of the
children in Ella's class took special care to look out for each other.
They stood at the top of the stairs before the classroom doors opened
each afternoon and excitedly announced as their friends entered the
building ("Wells is here! Abigail is here!") Each day after school,
Ella would give me the full report of any children who were missing
from class that day ("Selby was not there today, she is on vacation.
Henry was sick today..."), and she always reported back with great
excitement when her absent friends returned. Last week as I was
preparing mini bagels and cream cheese to bring in on our assigned
snack day, Ella made sure to let me know that William did not like
cream cheese, and she hovered around me to make sure nothing
happened to the plain bagel I had set aside for him. If only they could
stay preschoolers forever. I know that in just a few short years these
same children will start breaking off into different groups and
playground teasing will begin, and it all makes me a little sad that
preschool ever has to end.
But if I'm being completely honest
here, it is quite possible that this school year has done more for me
than it has for Ella. For the first time since moving here two years
ago (and really, probably since college), I have found true friends in
several of the other moms from Ella's class. Sure, I have gotten
friendly with my neighbors, people from church, and other moms that I've run into around town at Ella's music and gym classes. But now I am going out to dinner and enjoying hours of girl talk, I'm planning couples game nights, I'm hosting and going to regular playdates that are probably more for the benefit of the moms than the
kids, and I don't think I realized how much I had been missing this
interaction.
Over the past few days, Ella's teachers have been sending home various items that have accumulated in the classroom throughout the year. Last Friday it was the purple shag bath mat that she picked out at Target last fall to use as a rest mat. Yesterday, nudged between the laminated memory book of photos that her teachers prepared for her and a clothespin and paper towel butterfly that Ella created, there were two seemingly inconsequential items in her school bag. First, a piece of paper with Ella's name written in black marker along the bottom and a 4x6 picture taped to the middle. This had hung in Ella's cubby to let her know where to hang her tote bag and coat. As I pulled the paper out of her bag I noticed that on the other side of the paper there was another name written in black ink: Kathleen. The second item was the name tag that was set out each day to mark Ella's place at the table for snack. When the name tag was flipped inside out, there was that name again: Kathleen.
Ah yes, Kathleen.
Kathleen was the little girl who was supposed to be in Ella's class this
year instead of Ella. To sum up a long story, Ella was originally signed up to go to a different preschool. And then due to various reasons I decided to switch schools and enroll Ella at her current preschool, but in a different class because the one I really wanted (Kathleen's class) was full. Trust me, this was all very traumatic at the time. But what matters is that Kathleen dropped out of the class, Ella got in, and the rest is history.
I don't know why Kathleen dropped out of the class.
Maybe she moved. Maybe her parents decided to send her to a different school. Maybe she just switched classes. If she had stayed, I'm sure Ella would have
had a perfectly fine year in the other class, but I don't know if it
would have been anything special. So I just have to say thank you to
Kathleen for giving Ella the chance to have such an amazing first year of
school, and for allowing me to find the friends I didn't even
know I was missing all this time.
Now, who's going to help me keep two kids entertained all summer long?