It's the End of an Era .. You Might Say!

Tonight we attended Isabel's "KinderKlosing" patriotic program at school. This was sort of the unofficial Kindergarten Graduation for her class. As you faithful readers know, Isabel has a problem with these performances ... she usually breaks down into tears during the first song. So, we have been preparing for this program for weeks. I've been talking to her about it at home and her teacher has been encouraging her at school. All we can do is talk to her about it and pray that things go well. We were discouraged this morning when Isabel woke up with a cold. She has 3 days left of Kindergarten and each day is packed with fun, end-of-year activities and she came down with a cold!!! I was also concerned because I did not know how this would affect her "stage-fright". I was afraid that she would get up there and feel her usual apprehension and then not even try to hold it together because she wasn't feeling well. The teacher told us to invite anyone we wanted ... grandparents, aunts, uncles ... whoever wanted to come! I hadn't mentioned the program to anyone in the family because the last program was such a disaster that I didn't think it was worth it for anyone to come see and I didn't want to put any extra pressure on Isabel.

So, we woke up this morning, Isabel was sick and we talked a little bit about what to do since she wasn't feeling well. She was very adamant about not missing school today. She wanted to be a part of the things going on. This was an encouraging sign! When I talked to my mom this morning I told her what had happened and that I didn't know what to do about this program and she mentioned to me that she and my dad would like to come see Isabel. So, I warned her of the very real possibility that she might only see tears, but she still wanted to come. So we told Isabel that she would have some special guests in the audience!! She was excited - another encouraging sign!!

So, Isabel went to school! We came home and got ready for the program and off we went!!! The program started and .... NO TEARS! The program was half over and ... NO TEARS! The program ended and Isabel was called up to receive her "diploma" and bag of goodies and ... NO TEARS!! She did a fantastic job!! She even enjoyed herself. She had a smile on her face the whole time. Mrs. Herd was beaming through the whole thing! I was beaming through the whole thing. And Isabel was beaming through the whole thing!!!

We are so proud of our little Kindergartener! We received her final report card of the year and she received the highest marks on everything!!! Mrs. Herd has proudly recommended her for first grade! She has come so far and grown so much and we are so sad to say goodbye to this year. I feel like this is the last year of her "babyhood". Next year she will be in school all day, and she will eat her lunch in a cafeteria, and she will mingle with the "BIG KIDS". I'm not ready for this next stage. I'm still mourning the loss of the preschool days when we watched Sesame Street and practiced our shapes and colors. I feel like we are about to be launched unceremoniously into the real world. I suppose I should be thankful that in about a month I will no longer have the time to ponder this great leap we are about to take. God's timing really is perfect! This baby is coming at just the right time to pull my attention away from the yesterdays and demand I focus on the tomorrows. We'll start first grade in the fall and life will move on as it's supposed to. But for now, I will look at my sweet little girl and remember how we used to watch Sesame Street and practice our shapes and colors :)

This is Isabel's best friend, Ashley. Her mom told me today that last night when she said her bedtime prayers she prayed for Isabel. She prayed that Isabel would have strength and that she wouldn't have her stage fright. We should all be so lucky as to have a friend like Ashley!!