Yesterday marked the end of an era in our family’s life: Honeybun graduated preschool. She is now home for the summer and preparing for the next (terrifying) step which is kindergarten.
As is in the style of the school we were at, there was frustration up to the very end. Thursday was the last day of school and when Honeybun came out of her class room she informed me she needed to wear tights for the graduation ceremony the next day. I questioned the teacher, to make sure Honeybun wasn’t confused and she responded “The gowns are not all the way to the ground so stockings will look nicer.” Ummm, we live in Florida. It’s June and 90 degrees outside. 1) It’s too hot for tights (I remind Sugarplum of this every morning when she tries to put hers on). 2) The only tights we have that fit Honeybun right now are thick sweater type tights with bright colored hearts on them. 3) We live in Florida, and it’s June, where are we going to find little girls tights to buy (if I even wanted to spend more money)?
Luckily, the ceremony was cute though not without its irritations as this school has proven to be a pro at. The ceremony started 10 minutes late because they were waiting for 1 child who showed up an hour late, I’m just glad they didn’t wait for him to arrive! The small classroom was hot and crowded but I’m glad we didn’t have to spend any more money for the school to rent another space. The kids sang some songs and got their diplomas then there was a slide show of pictures of them throughout the year. (And there were only two little girls in tights!)
During the diploma ceremony, the director who was handing out the diplomas, read a few nice things the teachers had to say about each child. I thought this was a really cute idea and I loved that the teachers took the time to reflect on the child and the year. What began to irritate me, though, as the ceremony went on was that every child in Honeybun’s class was described as either “smart” or “intelligent.” Neither of these labels or anything similar was used for any child in the other class. It just felt insincere to me and it seemed that Honeybun’s teacher was just saying what she thought the parents wanted to hear. (She also said Honeybun “loved to share what she knows with other people.” In other words, she’s a bossy know it all which we already knew).
After the ceremony we went out for lunch and then met a school friend at a play place. The other mom asked me if there were any tears after the ceremony and I told her “we had some a few days ago but not today.” Then I realized she was asking if I had cried. 100% honest truth: I was not sad for 1 second. I am happy to be done with the school and though I’m sure we’ll have our struggles this summer, I’m glad to be done with the frustration of dealing with a school that’s primary form of communication is 4 year-old middle man.
