It's the end of an era! Today marks the last day at our beloved nursery school and while I'm thrilled at the idea of one drop off and one pick up, I'm just heartbroken to think we will never again walk through these doors. In the last few years I've developed some serious anxiety when it comes to saying goodbye and after a sleepless night last night I am currently preparing myself for those last hugs and trying to not ugly cry like I did through my entire wedding.
We chose a play based model for the boys' early years and it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. The LM easily transitioned into a more academically rigorous curriculum despite spending his pre-k time in more relaxed environment, and it's the lessons about friendship and love that he learned in these walls that I know will stay with him forever. Gray only had two short years in this beautiful space, but watching him grow more confident in himself has been such an incredible gift and I am forever indebted to the teachers and staff who greeted our boys with a hug and a smile every day of the year. (Even in 6 feet of snow!)
Speaking of school, as of noon both boys are officially out for the summer and just in time the desk for their room arrived! The last few days the LM has been waking up early to make comic books, and both of the boys love having this new space dedicated to drawing. I ended up switching out the chair from my original design plan and I'm so glad I did! The sea of blue fits in perfectly with their room and already I've been thrilled with how easy it is to wipe marker off the plastic molded chair. All the sources are in this post, and the chair is from here.
Yesterday the LM went from age 7 to age 17 in the course of a nap, making good use of the new desk space and left this note under the door while Gray and I were catching some zzzz's.
Fyi!?!?!? Whhhhaattt?
I guess this is how it goes, little kids become big kids and I suppose we are all just along for the ride!
I wish the best to all of you who are also going through big transitions this time of year. For me change is a hard thing but I keep telling myself it's just part of life (even though I still fight it with every fiber in my body.)
As they say, onwards and upwards!
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3 comments :
I know you've posted stuff about this before - like you'll let your older son go to the park while you're cooking dinner and can see from the window (something close to that at least). But, can he really just leave the house and go to the park by himself? I am not asking that in a judge-y sort of way. I am genuinely curious. I have a 7 1/2 year old and a 5 year old. And even though my 7 year old is very mature for his age, I could not see letting him go to the park by himself!! (we like in Boston as well). I struggle with how much freedom they should have - because I know I don't really give him any - and I want my kids to be street smart - BUT, I grew up in NYC and I probably watch too much tv and read too many horror stories that I just have a hard time letting go!! Just interested in hearing more thoughts on this.
I appreciate your comment! I totally hear what you are saying and I think for us it's very neighborhood centered. I wouldn't just let him roll out to any park but our park (which we live on and is only a one way street away) is where he has grown up and is a very neighborhood centered park. You have to have a neighborhood pass to park there and it's not really something you would pass if you weren't intentionally going there. We always know or at least are familiar with all of the people who are always there and often a number of older kids (9-12) will show up after school and start a soccer or football game which is what he joins in on. I can't think of a time of day when there isn't someone from our building there with our kids and honestly my biggest issue is the crossing of the street, not the safety of the park. If I see from the window he isn't looking as much as I'd like when I'm crossing I will take away park privileges for a long period of time. I'm never actually concerned about his safety AT the park. A few years back my husband showed me a statistic that there are about 150 kids a year taken by strangers and that really resonated with me. I think the media blows these things up so much when in reality we are more likely to get struck by lightening. I weigh that with the freedom and independence he gains from going and as a total personal decision, we feel that it isn't a concern. Again, I think we are lucky to live where we do and if it was another park in the city I definitely wouldn't let him go by himself, even if I was around the corner. We spend a lot of time talking about what to do if he is approached by a stranger in general, and I have more concern ms about this when we are in other parts of the city.
It's hard, I think we all make decisions based on what we are comfortable with, and in this case we feel very confident that this is something he can handle!
I hope that gives some insight! I appreciate the discussion!!!
My kids are 7, I have just let them start getting out of my site at the grocery store when they are together (they will go eat their sandwich at the cafe while i shop). I have a code word incase anyone tries to trick them away by saying "mommies hurt come with me to help her". Other times they get out of my site maybe to go to the restroom at restaurant or movies theater. That's all i am ready to do so far.
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