The End Of Kinder

There are exactly 5 days of kindergarten left. I will spare you all the talk of, "I can't believe how fast..." because if there is anything I have learned about raising kids these past (almost) six years is that everything in life just goes fast and there is no way around it. 

The end of kinder feels like such a significant milestone. Maybe not as big as the end of preschool because in a lot of ways life will be similar now that we are in an elementary school. Kaylee's program is a two year program so she will have the same classroom, half of the same kids and the routine will be very similar. However, her day with me will shorten and her school day will be extended by 2 1/2 hours. We will only have late afternoon and weekends that it is really just the two (or three) of us and a part of me is mourning the loss of our time together. As she gets older and her social life takes precedence over home life I know our time together will get shorter and shorter. Each year she grows closer and closer to growing completely independent of me, which is our ultimate goal for our children, but it doesn't make it any easier. 

I wanted to keep this post light and remember some aspects of kinder that I know I will look back on with fondness as Kaylee gets older. So here are just a few things that I may miss next year in no particular order.

• A group of 6-8 kids stayed after school everyday to play in the grass at the school entrance. It has become a favorite activity of ours. The kids run around making up games and laughing and playing while the moms stand around and talk. There have been days that we got in our car to go home only to realize we hung out for 2 hours after school just playing. 
• The teachers walk the kindergarteners out to the front gate to release them to their parents. The majority of kids still run full speed to their parent (or grandparent) and wrap them in a hug when they get out of school. I have a feeling this type of greeting from the kids will quickly disappear as they get older. 
• Everyday after I hug and kiss Kaylee goodbye she stand in the doorway as I leave and shouts, "bye, love you mom!" at least once, but sometimes up to 3 times. Kaylee is the only kid to do this, but none of the other kids even bat an eye at her proclamations of love for me as I leave. I know that in the near future her displays of love for me won't include shouting down the entire kinder/1st grade wing.
• The oversharing! One fun part of having a kindergartener is getting to know all the kids in class. Kinders love sharing every detail of their lives including some details that really aren't necessary. One story tyat comes to mind was from a little boy who told me his "dad takes forever when he poops." I hear a lot of odd family info that I would rather not know. It does make me wonder what Kaylee's teachers know about me that they would rather not know about. I am sure with CF they have heard some strange stories.
• My only name at Kaylee's school is "Kaylee's mom". "Look Kaylee's mom is here!" "Hi, Kaylee's mom" I am pretty sure some of the kids think that was the name I was born with because none of them have any idea what my real name is nor do they care.
• Kaylee will still hold my hand as we walk to school and while we wait in line for school to start. Although as the year has gone on she has reduced the amount of hand holding. I wonder if she will hold my hand at all next year.