Well, this is it. School is over. Today is your last day of pre-school. We made it. I know, I know. You made it, but you didn’t take this journey alone, and you were not the only one who learned things over the past year. I learned a lot as well. I would like to present this to you as my final project and sum up what I have learned from you these past nine months.
School is the best part of every day. I know this because every night before you go to bed, I ask you what the best part of your day was, and you always say school. The only day you didn’t say school was on your birthday, when we took you out to lunch and the movies. On that day you said lunch, the movies, and school.
A rain forest has four layers. They are: forest floor, understory, canopy, and emergent. I also know all of the hand motions that go with each layer, but as they are rather hard to type, I hope you will trust that I did indeed learn them all from you.
Car trips go faster when you use landmarks. I know this because every day when we drove to school together you would shout out “Sandwich! No Parking! Post Office!” and I would know that we were passing by the sandwich shop, the no parking sign, the post office, and everything else along the way that you used to mark our path. We were always there before I knew it! Time flies when you are distracted.
Your Mom is your hero. Yes, I saw the poster on which everyone had written who their heroes were, and I have to confess that I was a little sad not to be your hero, but don’t worry, I got over it quickly. Besides, if you are looking for heroes and your choices are me or your mother, I would always pick her too. In fact, I did pick her. She is my hero too, so we have that in common.
You sing louder than all the other kids. I know this because I was at your holiday presentation, as well as your closing ceremonies. Don’t worry, you come by it honestly. There’s nothing you can do about it, so you may as well just enjoy it.
If you forget to bring something in that starts with the letter of the week, you can always just use a body part. This was a big relief to me, because we did forget to bring in our letter item a few times, but you were never upset about it. When it was “E” week and we didn’t bring in anything that started with the letter “E” and I got all freaked out, you told me not to worry, because you had your elbow with you. You are very resourceful and full of grace under pressure. And it all worked out anyway when Edward decided to climb up onto the table where the “E” things were and got himself put on the list.
You should keep in touch with people. I have always been terrible at staying in touch with people that are far away, even with the internet around and everything, but when you decided to make a Valentine for your classmate who had moved to Japan in the new year, it showed me how important it is to keep relationships going. I know it made a big difference to him, judging from the card we got back, and even though I am still bad at keeping in touch, it made a difference to me too.
Pluto is absolutely not a planet. Why was there even a discussion? Since before you were born Pluto has been less than a planet, putting its planethood in the realm of other ancient scientific facts such as “the world is flat” and “there is a man in the sky throwing lightning.”
Transitions are hard. I know that this is true for almost everyone, and I can see that you are having a hard time dealing with the end of school. None of your friends will be in your kindergarten next year, and it’s difficult to say goodbye to them. Your routine and your daily structure will be completely upended and you will be stuck back home with Edward and me all summer. I want you to know that I understand how you feel, and I am going to do my best to make this summer the best one you have ever had. Before you know it you will be off to kindergarten with a whole new group of kids and we can start this whole crazy thing all over. But for now, I just want to say thank you for teaching me so much this year, and I hope we continue to learn from each other for a long, long time. Good luck on your last day! I love you lots! See you at lunch time!