Last Day of Preschool

The girls with their teacher gift.  Super cheap and cute!

Today was the last day of preschool for Emma and Taylor.  They had a performance and each got a certificate.  I was feeling a bit sad.  Not because they were finishing preschool, but because that means its the beginning of kindergarten.

The girls had been singing the songs at home all week, so I was very excited for the program.  Please forgive the bad pictures.  They are very important in the retelling of the events.

 The children entered and the teachers passed out shakers and spoons.  Emma is on the front row in the yellow dress and Taylor is on the second row in the blue dress, behind the boy in green.

They started singing and Emma immediately started crying.  Very dramatically.

She refused to sing, do actions, or stand when it was her turn.

I was horrified.  But at least only a few people knew she was mine.  Until the song was over.  She then started yelling for me.  If only I were small enough to hide under the chair.

Her teacher dismissed her to sit with me.  She came down the stairs, couldn't find me, and yelled because she couldn't get through the rows of chairs and baby carriers that were blocking her way.  I had to stand up.  Everybody at that point knew she was mine. 

She sat on my lap and continued to cry and talk loudly.  She said, "Everybody keeps looking at me!"  I don't think she realized the commotion she was causing.  We wanted to take her out, but we still had one child singing on the stage!  They finished singing and I was able to hear most of it.  It was really very cute. 

They then passed out certificates by calling the children's names.  We prepared Emma by telling her they would call her name and she could just go from her seat.  She was ready.  They went in alphabetic order.  She should have been first, but instead they called Taylor.

They didn't call Emma.  They just gave hers to Taylor too.  Emma was devastated.  We finally told her she could go wait on the edge of the stage to show the teacher she was ready.  She didn't stay on the edge of the stage.  She ran and interrupted the kids who were getting their certificates and stood in their pictures.  Could this get much worse?   Yes.  The teacher got her certificate back from Taylor and called Emma's name.  Several people cheered for her.  This would make things better, right?  Nope.  This is Emma getting her certificate.

A big thank you to my friend, Karie, for catching this very special moment.

They dismissed the rest of the kids to sit with their parents to watch a slide show with pictures from the year and sappy music.  During the first song Emma said, "This sad music is what made me sad to start with."  I then knew what was happening.  Emma was sad that school was over.  She was going to miss her friends.  She was going to miss her teachers.

When the program was over, her teacher confirmed what I was thinking.  She said Emma had been sobbing that morning saying that she would miss school. 

Emma feels things very deeply, but doesn't know how to express her emotions with words or actions.  I've been working really hard on this with her.   Hopefully she figures it out before teenage years, or else we're in for a lot of trouble. 

I can't help but remember the last day of sixth grade.  My teacher had just finished reading "Oh, The Places You'll Go", by Dr. Seuss.  I was crying so loudly in the bathroom that my fourth grade teacher came in to see if everything was alright.  I, too, was a pretty emotional child.