Thursday, May 29, 2008

last day

Twin A. walks out of the building carrying his school bag and a huge envelope full of art projects. “Hey A!” I call from our meeting place by the flagpole. “How was the last day?” I ask.

“Good.” He says. “I got a lot of stuff to bring home.”

“I can’t wait to see it all.”

“And kind of sad too,” he continues.

Twin B. marches out proudly just then. “Hey Mom!” He says, giving me a quick hug. “Hey A. We had popsicles today.”

“Me too!” A. says. “Can we play?” he looks over at me.

“Of course. For a few minutes,” I tell them.

And so Kindergarten is over, just like that.

Later that night, we ride our bikes to the pizza place near our house and have dinner, then ice cream, and talk about our favorite things in Kindergarten: friends, playing, great teachers, writing workshop, gym.

We take the long way home, winding our bikes down the path by the river. A family of ducks sits at the edge, a Mama, Daddy, and three babies. The grown-up ducks quickly stand in front of their babies when they see us coming, hissing as we ride by.

I wonder at the parenting habits of ducks. When do they let their babies go? Do they do it all at once, or do they let go little by little, the way we do?

The noisy boys are pedaling as fast as they can on the trail. “Woo hoo!” Twin A. yells. “This is so beautiful!”

I couldn’t agree more.

9 comments:

Suzie said...

Wow. It's certainly harder on us. The idea of kindergarden makes me tear up let alone first grade.

Suzie said...

By the way there's an award waiting on my blog for you

The Queen of Sci Fi said...

This is so sweet and REAL. I'm struck at how powerful it is that this story seems really normal and so wonderful all at the same time. Maybe it's the hormones but I'm sad that Kindergarden is over, too. And I'm amazed that I've been able to read about the twins in K-garden over the last year. What an interesting community this blogging thing creates. You guys ever thought of visiting Portland over the summer???

FrazzMom said...

It can't be possible that the twins are done with kindergarten! And how cool is it that you get out of school in May?!! We are in until June 12th!

Anonymous said...

yahoooo! summer v a c a t i o n !!!

Chaotic Joy said...

I loved this post. You perfectly captured a moment in your twin's life. And yours. And threw in a little comparison about ducks. Hee. It was beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Aww so sweet! It is a beautiful thing!

Anonymous said...

I love how you captured this moment. And I am going to be so totally sad when my little one finishes kindergarten.

Llama Momma said...

Suzie -- It's funny, the things that make us cry. I was fine dropping the boys off for kindergarten until I noticed all of the kids waving at their parents. My boys were just waving at eachother. THAT'S when I wept.

Maria -- I'd love to visit Oregon. We've got more than a few friends there. Now, if only traveling were as simple as clicking our heels...

FrazzMom -- I know. But tell me how much I like being out of school in May when we're going back to school in the middle of the dog days of summer! (Mid-August)

Nancy -- I'm looking forward to it!

Chaotic Joy -- Yes, the slice. Every once in awhile it's like my mind hits "pause," and I know I need to stop and write something down or the moment will be lost.

Kelsey -- thanks for your kind words!

SP -- I wasn't sad so much as reflective. They ARE growing up. And that's such a good thing!!