Thursday, May 31, 2007

summer

Tomorrow is the last day of preschool. Two years ago, when I dropped them off for the first time, everyone told me I would cry. I insisted that I had been with them every single minute of their lives, except for maybe five, and I was ready to drop them off for awhile. Anywhere. I did not cry on the first day. I went to Starbucks by myself and sat, happily, for two hours and fifteen minutes. And they absolutely loved preschool.

Yesterday was the annual spring program. The noisy boys stood proudly with their class, Twin B. with his new glasses, singing silly songs. They all looked so grown up, in a five-almost-six kind of way. They sang “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” to the tune of Baa Baa Black Sheep, and even did sign language along with all of the animals. And by the time they got to the end, “Children, children what do you see? We see mothers looking at us,” I was all choked up. How can I forget the early years and all of our worries about their development? When the speech therapist who evaluated them periodically said, “Read, read, read,” I did. After breakfast each morning we would sit on the living room floor and read all of our books. Every last one. It took over an hour, but we soaked up all of those words, my boys and I. And “Brown Bear” was my personal favorite. Well, that and “I Love you Stinky Face.”

My tears yesterday weren’t tears of sadness that they’re growing up. They were tears of joy and accomplishment. Twin A. and Twin B. are ready for Kindergarten. Really ready. And as their lives unfold, it’s a privilege to guide them along the way; to teach them; to give them opportunities to grow.

Happy summer, noisy boys!

7 comments:

Clayton said...

Hello LlamaMama. It's been a while since I checked your blog, and I see that we missed your b-day. Sorry! Happy Belated Birthday! Oddly enough, C3 and Anna were in town that day seeing their friends. We should have sent them with presents. I'm glad you had a happy b-day. Speaking of b-day's, today is Kat's. She's 7. (!) Odd that I have such old children.

Good to hear that Twin A and Twin B had a good year in p-school. I miss those guys! I love 'Brown Bear' too. And Goodnight Moon. That there is good writin.

hellolittlepeepers said...

I personally am also a big fan of "I Love You Stinky Face."

Llama Momma said...

Clayton - "That there is good writin"

Okay, what is that? Whaddya do...move to Texas or something? ;-)

emily - Motherhood really does broaden ones literary horizons, doesn't it?

Ted M. Gossard said...

Llama Momma, Wonderful sharing here for us. You ought to write a book. Really cute, the different stages they go through. And good to remember those times and special things.

L.L. Barkat said...

Yes, it is rarely the "leaving" times, the dropping offs that make me weep. It is, instead, watching these other things... as they perform on a stage or do something independently while I sit on the outside and realize... they are beautiful, they are doing this, and they are doing it without me

spaghettipie said...

Thanks so much for sharing that moment! What a special milestone to remember.

Halfmom said...

It is good to have those memories to look back on - thanks for sharing them!