Goodbye, Preschool

We’ve come a long way in one year.

Ane has really grown in these last nine months. She’s made some good friends. She gets along pretty well with her peers. She’s learning how to take a joke.

I hate to say it, but she’s ready for kindergarten.

I felt like crying on her last day of school. Her teachers this year have just been wonderful and understanding. I feel incredibly fortunate that Ane had them as her teachers. I think the kids really liked being together. I know Ane loved school with all her heart.

As school was coming to a close last week, I kept warning Ane that this was her last week of preschool. Her answer on Wednesday was typical Ane: “That’s okay, because then I’ll be in kindergarten.” I had to remind her that it wouldn’t be until next fall, but that didn’t seem to faze her.

Come Friday, she was sitting quietly in the back of the car while I was driving her to school. Then she said, “Mommy, this is my last day of preschool, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh,” I replied, with a lump in my throat.

She digested that for a moment, and then said very quietly, “That’s kind of sad.”

Yes, it was. But we have a whole summer to spend doing fun things before kindergarten comes along.

I used to wait for her on these front steps that she’s sitting on. Next year, the school is moving to a different building, so I don’t know what the church who owns the building will use it for.

Regardless, the halls will ring with the memory of the laughter of many happy children for years to come. And Ane’s voice will ring among them.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 12:37 am and is filed under Children, School Days.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed and Both comments and pings are currently closed.