Last Day of School

Well, the last day of school has come and gone... it was actually not as sad as I thought it might be. Probably all of the familiar "last day of school" feelings of euphoria took over the "oh my gosh, I'm not coming back her next year" feelings. There were a few more goodbyes than there usually are and lots more hugs (I generally don't hug many people at work...) As I was pulling out of the parking lot for the last time this year, I mostly just felt a huge sense of relief. I can't believe that this LONG school year is finally over - I don't ever have to get up and get the kids ready by myself again. I don't have to get up at 5:00 am for a while (OK, the kids occasionally get up at 5:00 -- but it's different than when the alarm goes off and you have to jump right in the shower...)

The last day of daycare was also today - definitely more sad for me than for the kids. I sent them each with treats to celebrate their last day... (smarties for Nathan's class -- the kid loves smarites even more than he loves arby's!) They are both ready for the "home days" of summer so they were excited about all of the "last day attention," but I'm not sure if they really completely get it yet. They both seemed a little weirded out by all of the "fanfare" as we left school today -- every teacher was hugging them and hugging me -- kind of like, "what's the big deal?" they were thinking. Ellie's pre-K teachers convinced her to send a picture and write a letter once we get to Omaha and they promised to write back. Ellie seemed interested in this idea -- "pen-pals" -- cute!

We also left daycare with each of the kids' portfolios - the daycare center really does a nice job of "documenting" their days there. There are pictures of them doing different things, art projects, observations, teacher write-ups. Like any scrapbook, it's really fun to look back and remember each age. The only thing that strikes me as odd is the whole "educational spin" they have to put on everything... "Ellie is practicing her early math skills and her creativity skills and her self-help skills and her social skills as she creates a picture using a square shaped stamp." And then there's a picture of a 15 month old Ellie with a blank stare and paint all over her face. It's cute, but does everything have to be part of "curriculum?"

Well, as I do every summer, I think I'm going to have to develop some kind of "stay at home" plan so that I can maintain my sanity, but for the next day or two, we plan to just be lazy summer stay at home-ers!

More soon -