Preschool is...

The last day of preschool has come and gone. I have been in denial about this day all month. I didn't really want the school year to end for many reasons. One, I loved my class! We had a very rough start, but something magical happened after Fall break and I did not want to let them go. The second reason was Jaxon leaving preschool. I've said it before, WE LOVE HIS PRESCHOOL! It was exactly what we wanted for Jaxon. He had time to play and explore that he needed. He made some wonderful friends and he learned so much. I'm not exactly sure how he learned, but he did. I mean, he can count past 100, can count backwards from 10, can count by 10s, knows all the letters and their sounds, can write the letters and his name, understands rhyming words, addition and subtraction, he recognizes all 4 coins and their value, the list goes on and on. And this is without a 'structured' preschool. His teachers are AMAZING! So needless to say, I was sad. Jaxon was sad too. He was having an especially difficult time leaving his favorite teacher, Ms. Courtney. Thank God we have become friends and will be seeing her over the summer, otherwise, I'm not sure what we'd do. I mean, the kid was in tears about his last day of school. He told me, "I don't want to go to bed because when I wake up it'll be my last day of preschool. I don't want to go to kindergarten. I'll miss my friends." Ugh. 

So, I didn't make a big deal of it. I just said, "today's your last day of preschool. How do you feel?" His response, "I'll have to play with Jake & Hunter & Tyson as much as  I can." Yep. Pretty much. Make the most of it. 

So imagine how I felt when  I found this book in his cubby that I will treasure forever. I read the first two pages and had to close it because I started to cry right in the middle of his classroom. 

If I didn't love this book so much and if I weren't so selfish, I'd donate it to the preschool so they could read it to their new students. It sums preschool up pretty well. 

Ms. Courtney texted me later and said it was his idea and that "wanted a big book of preschool facts to tell everyone what preschool is."

Does it get any better than that? I don't think so. He pretty much summed up his 2 years in preschool. Love it. To make me even sadder , Courtney shared her goodbye with me. As she was packing up to leave (Jax was a late pickup on the last day) she hears a little voice say, "Can I give you a goodbye preschool hug?" If you know Jaxon well, you know that hugs are not given freely. They need to be earned and they are to be treasured. 

All I can say is I am so thankful Ms. Courtney will be starting a new 'transitional' kindergarten program next year and she will have about 6 kindergarteners in her class because if Jaxon had to separate from her completely, we'd be in BIG trouble! So, he'll be with her for 3 1/2 hours in the morning next year. Whew! Plus all the 'dates' we'll have after school. :)