1 Mother 2 Another

Maddie’s been loving her time in
pre-k, and this first year of school is really flying by fast. Her
class keeps a running count of how many days they’ve been in
school, and we’re over 80 by now, with less than six weeks to
go. She’s already lamenting the onset of summer and loss of
her precious school time.


Last week she brought home a form in her school folder for ordering
graduation pictures. Excuse me? Isn’t she four? Aren’t
we safe from that for another, oh, fourteen years??

But no. Apparently this school – and
from what I can gather from other parents further down the school
line, every school – puts on a graduation. Be it preschool,
elementary school, middle school, heck- Vacation Bible school,
there’s an official graduation ceremony. And next week, every
person in Maddie’s class will take a picture in a red cap and
gown, holding a diploma. Ordering the photos is strictly optional,
of course, but try explaining to your child that she’s the
only one without a pretty picture because Mommy’s taking a
stand and opting out.


The end of May will bring a big graduation ceremony for Maddie and
her friends, and they’re already working hard on the
performance pieces they’ll be doing. She’s quite
excited, and has already begun campaigning for a new dress for the
occasion. Oy vey.


I know the big day will arrive and in spite of my eye-rolling,
I’ll be there in the front row, elbowing for prime
video-camera space and crying none-too-quietly into a hankie. My
baby girl, yadda yadda yadda. Which is probably why I’m being
all cynical and jaded about it, in an effort to stop the landslide
into melancholia.


I get it, I do. But really? Really? Please don’t put me
through this emotional roller coaster just yet. I’m still
recovering from kindergarten roundup.