Will's last day of Kindergarten...

I can't believe my baby is all done with his first year of public school. Where does the time go? I keep thinking, NO! This can't be happening. He was just a BABY yesterday, dammit! How did he get to be this big 6 year old with these long legs who can read and write? How did that happen so fast? I still think of Will and Ben as perpetual toddlers, I think. They were always just WillandBen, one word, my boys, my almost twins. Which by the way was the absolute best "accident" I have ever had in my life. Having them so close together in age has worked out better than I could ever have imagined. I keep accidentally calling Sam Ben. That started in the hospital right after his birth and I am still waiting for it to sink in that I actually do have three kids now! His little personality is really starting to emerge though. He is forging a separate identity for himself, separate from his big brothers.

Today Brian and I both met at Will's school to pick him up from his last day of school. I brought him a balloon in honor of this mini "graduation" from just starting out school to big boy 1st grade. Are we really old enough to have a 1st grader?!?! I still get these flashbacks of the two of us hanging out on the "quad" during snack in highschool, 16 and 17 years old, the biggest thing we had to worry about being what to wear on our date that night and making time to study for that next biology test. Are we really all grown up with three kids now? Some days I still feel like I am faking it.

The kids all marched out in a line, following thier teacher, Mrs. Shields, for the last time ever. They were all carrying large envelopes with thier names on them with presents from Mrs. Shields inside for both them and us. An adorable magnet with his picture on it, a dvd with pictures of the class, arranged and set to music, a book about the old lady who swallowed the fly, a ruler, a cd of music with the school name in it, and a photo album with pictures of Will and his friends taken all throughout the year.

All the parents waited by the tree, snapping pictures of the kids walking towards us, then posing them for pictures with the other kids, with thier teacher, and with us. All of us getting a little sappy over our babies growing up and moving on.

We all went out to lunch at Islands, Will's choice, and the kids had ice cream for dessert. Sam amazingly enough, behaved relatively well throughout the meal, talking and smiling, and eating fries, one of the few foods that my picky eater likes.

So that's it. He's finished with Kindergarten and our school adventure is really just beginning. Next fall he'll stay all day long and eat lunch in the cafeteria. Ben will be in his last year of preschool. I think I'll just keep Sam a baby forever;).