Kindergarten Graduation

Ironically, I wrote about kindergarten graduations when Olivia was a year old. Just to be clear, the Risa that wrote that

1. Also had an editor that changed some of my wording to be more punchy and edgy and there are phrases in there I wouldn’t have said and
2. Didn’t have a kindergartener who was graduating.

Because you guys. Oh, Olivia’s graduation was so cute. I’m still holding firm that I’m not a fan of the tiny cap and gown thing, but Olivia’s was part of their spring program (the first event all year they had that we could attend) and it was just so emotional.

At her Montessori school, she’s in a class with 3 to 6-year-olds and there are only 6 actual kindergarteners. And they all put on this little concert with singing and dancing and holy crap I have gobs of videos of it. It’s funny because even two years ago (before COVID) at one of her preschool concerts, she was so shy and could barely stand up in front of the parents.

This year, she’s come out of her shell as a little leader. That girl was on fire. Her voice confidently rang out over the rest of the kids and she never once need to look to her classmates for what to do. She sang, she danced. The other kids would glance at her at what the next move was. It was utterly, ridiculously adorable.

Their last song was Greatest Love of All and holy moly. Did I say this concert was cute? It was cute.

Once the concert was done, the kindergarteners had their ceremony. They were all so perfect. I could tell they had been practicing this so hard. They all lined up and one by one with background music, they carried a candle around the circle in the gym and sat at their assigned spots.

Then their teacher came around and lit their candles one by one, giving them each a little bow. She has an amazing teacher and one of the things I love most about her is she is so respectful of them, seeing them as the people they are and not just 6-year-olds. Then the lights were shut off.

(You can see in the candlelight photo the other classmates doing an amazing job sitting there quietly. I give them a lot of credit.)

Then one by one, they blew their candle out, walked around the circle, dropped off their candle, and then their teacher presented them with their little diploma and a hug. Then they got a flower that they would walk over to their parents and present and give us a hug.

Yep. Cried. My baby. I just can’t believe how far we’ve come. Plus, I mean, these little kids. They were flawless. That’s a lot of steps to remember and have to do by yourself.

Then her little class was presented to the audience.

They had on the wall of the gym their individual pictures holding up a board of what they wanted to be when they grew up. Hers was, no surprise, an artist. Her little friend whom she’s gotten really close to had put he wanted to be an Egyptologist and I’m writing about it here so we can always remember it because it’s amazing.

My Olivia. I was wrong. Kindergarten graduations are the best thing ever.