The Last Day of School

The last day of school was last Wednesday.  It was just a day of fun, playing outside in the sprinklers and playing in the water buckets.  Give a kid a bucket of water and some pails and squirters of all kinds and they are happy!  We played outside, then dried off for storytime and then it was time for pizza and ice cream.  "Water Day" was fun for all.  We're going to miss the older kids who will be leaving us to start Kindergarten and some of our other kids are moving to different days or different towns.  Most of our kiddos will be staying with us this summer and then in the fall.

The summer session begins on June 4 for a couple months...shorter days and just one day a week.  But in the fall, we'll be back on our usual schedule again on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Molly will move up to Miss Judy's class with most of her classmates joining her again.

Here's my girl running off to play on the swings after playing in the sprinklers.

Molly on the monkey bars with a friend from her class.

I wasn't able to spend much time with Molly's class that day.  Here are all the little ones from my toddlers class....such sweet kids.  There was a lot of giggling going on that day.  I will miss the ones leaving or moving up to the primary class...but a couple will be staying with us with a bunch of new ones joining us in the fall.

   

    

The kids can make me feel so tired, so crazy, so happy all at the same time.  Through play, we try to teach them the basics they'll need in life...sharing, being kind, how to treat others, taking turns, exercising, reading, colors, shapes, numbers, letters....there is so much to learn.  In addition to that, there is being polite, how to sit at the table, cleaning up messes, how to hold a fork, using a napkin, how to wash their hands, let's not forget potty-training (oy).  

It kind of makes me wonder now about all the people who helped me learn these things in my own life.  My mom and dad, of course...daycare workers, babysitters, every teacher I ever had, my entire family.  Even now, at my age, I still feel the need to say thank you for all they did.  

It's hard work teaching a little child how to just function in the world and become a productive member of society.  If you are mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the day, you just might be doing it right because it takes every ounce of energy you have to keep a kid on the right track.  Keeping 10 or more on track is really hard work!  But when I see them learning something I taught them, it's a powerful moment and when one of them smiles and gives me a big hug, that's magic. And at naptime, when one falls asleep in my arms, it absolutely feeds my soul all it had been depleted of all day long. 

They teach me too.  They have taught me that the 4 year old me is still here and she knows exactly what they are going through and what they need to hear when they are sad or frustrated.  Sometimes, though I do forget this when I am tired or the grumpy grown-up me insists upon being in charge.  Most of the time, the child knows best.

I hope my inner child never grows up and moves out.  She will always have my heart to call home.