Today is "one of those days". It's a crying day. I hate crying days. I really hate crying in front of people, it makes me feel like a dork. But it's been happening all day and is likely to continue happening until I go to bed tonight, so I may as well embrace it. Thankfully these days don't happen often. Actually, now that I think about it, this has happened once a year since Anna left preschool. This end-of-the-school-year business is stressful stuff!
Today's emotional roller-coaster started when I dropped Anna off at school. Last night she announced excitedly that today was a "free dress day" and she didn't have to wear her uniform. Normally a note comes home announcing these sorts of events, but Anna's been taking out all her papers and spreading them all over the place lately so I thought she just misplaced the note. It's not like her to tell me something that's not true. So we picked out a cute outfit and off to school she went. I thought about packing a uniform in her backpack just in case, but I forgot because today is Megan's last day of preschool and I was thinking about her little graduation ceremony tonight.
So we arrived at school and all the other kids are wearing uniforms. Great. I walked Anna to the office and told her I might have to take her home because she was not wearing her uniform and it didn't look like a "free dress day" to me. Ms. M gave us a slightly stern look and that did it - I almost lost it, but I knew that Anna felt like crying too so I pulled it together. Anna could stay at school because today was a half day, but they'd have a discussion with Anna about "free dress days". I felt so bad for her. She's a rule-follower and I knew this mistake might throw her day completely out of whack. But I left her there in the office thinking it would be worse if I stayed, and that I'd get a call if there was a problem and I needed to bring her home.
Then I dropped Megan off at preschool. One of the other mothers was sobbing, telling the teacher how wonderful she was and how much she'd be missed. Great. I signed Megan in and turned around to say hi to the teacher, and the teacher was crying. So of course I started to cry too. I told her what a fantastic teacher she's been, and she's set Megan up perfectly for kindergarten and I knew Megan would be just fine going to elementary school and it was all because of her. It's all true. Then I beat it out of there so I wouldn't run into any more emotional mothers.
As today was my last day of freedom before having the kids home with me all summer, I ran errands and didn't have time to think about sad stuff. Then I went to pick up Anna. I dropped in the office to apologize for the whole uniform blunder and Ms. M. told me something fantastic. She said Anna was very upset and wanted to go home because she didn't have a uniform. Ms. M. gave Anna a little time to calm down, and then suggested they go to the used uniform closet to find a uniform to wear. So that's what they did, and Anna joined the class. For Anna, that was handled perfectly! See, that's just one of the many reasons I'm over the moon about Anna's school. They get her. They allow her to succeed. So I was happy about that. Yay, happy news!
Then I asked about next year - the girls will be at different schools but have the same pick-up time. I don't think the public school will be very flexible about this, so I asked about picking Anna up early or just a smidge late. I was told picking up early is a bad idea since starting in second grade the kids work hard on getting organized with special folders and stuff, and they really need that time at school. And picking up late on a consistent basis would mean paying for after school care. That's when I started crying again and thinking - oh no, have we made the wrong decision to move? How am I going to work around this? We can't afford after school care. Actually I think I said that out loud, which made the crying worse. Poor Ms. M. - I cried in her office last year around this time too. I should buy her some tissues for her desk and tell her to expect me to cry over something again next year.
On top of all this, Megan is graduating from preschool tonight. The class is going to wear caps and gowns and have a little ceremony. Last week I rolled my eyes at this - really, this is necessary for 5 year olds? But then I saw her little graduation pictures. She looks happy and super cute. It's going to be something special just for her, something done apart from Anna. It will be Megan's night, and she's going to love it. And I know, I just know, that I'll be sitting in the audience watching her up on the stage singing the ABC song in her little cap and gown and I'm going to be crying my eyes out. I'll probably cry all night long. Then I'll be good until this time next year!
Today's emotional roller-coaster started when I dropped Anna off at school. Last night she announced excitedly that today was a "free dress day" and she didn't have to wear her uniform. Normally a note comes home announcing these sorts of events, but Anna's been taking out all her papers and spreading them all over the place lately so I thought she just misplaced the note. It's not like her to tell me something that's not true. So we picked out a cute outfit and off to school she went. I thought about packing a uniform in her backpack just in case, but I forgot because today is Megan's last day of preschool and I was thinking about her little graduation ceremony tonight.
So we arrived at school and all the other kids are wearing uniforms. Great. I walked Anna to the office and told her I might have to take her home because she was not wearing her uniform and it didn't look like a "free dress day" to me. Ms. M gave us a slightly stern look and that did it - I almost lost it, but I knew that Anna felt like crying too so I pulled it together. Anna could stay at school because today was a half day, but they'd have a discussion with Anna about "free dress days". I felt so bad for her. She's a rule-follower and I knew this mistake might throw her day completely out of whack. But I left her there in the office thinking it would be worse if I stayed, and that I'd get a call if there was a problem and I needed to bring her home.
Then I dropped Megan off at preschool. One of the other mothers was sobbing, telling the teacher how wonderful she was and how much she'd be missed. Great. I signed Megan in and turned around to say hi to the teacher, and the teacher was crying. So of course I started to cry too. I told her what a fantastic teacher she's been, and she's set Megan up perfectly for kindergarten and I knew Megan would be just fine going to elementary school and it was all because of her. It's all true. Then I beat it out of there so I wouldn't run into any more emotional mothers.
As today was my last day of freedom before having the kids home with me all summer, I ran errands and didn't have time to think about sad stuff. Then I went to pick up Anna. I dropped in the office to apologize for the whole uniform blunder and Ms. M. told me something fantastic. She said Anna was very upset and wanted to go home because she didn't have a uniform. Ms. M. gave Anna a little time to calm down, and then suggested they go to the used uniform closet to find a uniform to wear. So that's what they did, and Anna joined the class. For Anna, that was handled perfectly! See, that's just one of the many reasons I'm over the moon about Anna's school. They get her. They allow her to succeed. So I was happy about that. Yay, happy news!
Then I asked about next year - the girls will be at different schools but have the same pick-up time. I don't think the public school will be very flexible about this, so I asked about picking Anna up early or just a smidge late. I was told picking up early is a bad idea since starting in second grade the kids work hard on getting organized with special folders and stuff, and they really need that time at school. And picking up late on a consistent basis would mean paying for after school care. That's when I started crying again and thinking - oh no, have we made the wrong decision to move? How am I going to work around this? We can't afford after school care. Actually I think I said that out loud, which made the crying worse. Poor Ms. M. - I cried in her office last year around this time too. I should buy her some tissues for her desk and tell her to expect me to cry over something again next year.
On top of all this, Megan is graduating from preschool tonight. The class is going to wear caps and gowns and have a little ceremony. Last week I rolled my eyes at this - really, this is necessary for 5 year olds? But then I saw her little graduation pictures. She looks happy and super cute. It's going to be something special just for her, something done apart from Anna. It will be Megan's night, and she's going to love it. And I know, I just know, that I'll be sitting in the audience watching her up on the stage singing the ABC song in her little cap and gown and I'm going to be crying my eyes out. I'll probably cry all night long. Then I'll be good until this time next year!
1 comments:
Poor Erin! I hate those crying days! But at least after you have one you know you should be good for awhile. :)
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