Two pictures, taken almost ten months apart.

How she went from day one to the last day in the blink of an eye is beyond me. Last night, after she fell asleep, I made her grad cap. Luckily for me, I inherited my mother’s crafting genes because the instructions I had left out a few steps so there was a bit of cursing involved but I got it done. I had planned to surprise her with it at the end of the day but I decided to show her this morning so I could make sure it fit (I actually made two just in case this one was too small, but it was just right). I’m going to take it later to pick her up so I can see if I can get a picture of her with her teacher. What she doesn’t know yet is that we’re also taking her to McDonalds for supper to celebrate, that will make her really happy.

When I took the picture of her this morning, I almost teared up and wasn’t sure exactly why until I realized I had taken a picture of her in that same spot in that same tunic way back in August for her very first day of school. The school year passed so quickly. Now the girl who had a rough start getting used to school is sad that she won’t be going back until the end of August and she isn’t keen on going to grade one. One of the other mothers told me her son was the same way last year and this year he doesn’t want to go on to grade two so it sounds pretty common. She’s not fond of change, this one, but I know after the trials of Kindergarten that she can handle it.

She took in some index cards with her phone number and a request to stay in touch that she’ll give to her closest friends, and we got her teacher a gift card to Tim Horton’s to enjoy some coffee over the summer. Hayley also requested one of her school pictures, so I slipped that in as well. She really likes her teacher so I know she’ll be happy to give her a photo of herself and if I can get a picture of both of them together that will make her even happier.

As for me, I’ll just be happy to not have to drag a tired and cranky five-year-old from bed at 6:30 am for two months, yippee!

(This almost guarantees that she’ll wake up at 6 tomorrow.)