My baby girl graduated from preschool (sniff), and next fall she'll board that bus 
and enter big-kid school. I can't believe it! Time just flies by. I'm sad because she's growing up, but I'm mostly sad because of what happens. I tell my students all the time that when kids start pre-school they believe that they are the cutest, the smartest, the BEST, that they are loved, cherished, and the list goes on. This is because (most) parents ADORE their children and instill these beliefs. I just asked Abby today, "Guess who is the prettiest five year old girl I love?" She didn't hesitate, "I AM!!!" she squealed in delight. I later said to Olivia, "Guess who is the most gorgeous young lady on the planet? Here's a hint...I REALLY looooove her..." Olivia hesitated, she thought, and then answered, "Taylor Swift?" I was floored! "NO! YOU!" I said and pulled her into a hug. She just shrugged. Unfortunately, when they board that bus for Kindergarten, they believe those things a little less; with first grade, a little less; second, third, fourth grades, less and less and LESS. By the time I get them in eleventh grade, they either have stopped believing any of these things at all, have stopped believing most of these things, or are on the rebound and are starting to believe a little more. I tell my high school kids, "You do that to each other. And yet, you care so much about what every other self-conscious kid around you thinks of you. Did you ever stop to think that instead of pushing your parents away, you let them in? Consider listening to people who LOVE you and see the BEST in you...and that sometimes may include your great friends. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best, see the best, and inspire the best of you. Then, you will remember what it was like when you were four and you BELIEVED it too."
and enter big-kid school. I can't believe it! Time just flies by. I'm sad because she's growing up, but I'm mostly sad because of what happens. I tell my students all the time that when kids start pre-school they believe that they are the cutest, the smartest, the BEST, that they are loved, cherished, and the list goes on. This is because (most) parents ADORE their children and instill these beliefs. I just asked Abby today, "Guess who is the prettiest five year old girl I love?" She didn't hesitate, "I AM!!!" she squealed in delight. I later said to Olivia, "Guess who is the most gorgeous young lady on the planet? Here's a hint...I REALLY looooove her..." Olivia hesitated, she thought, and then answered, "Taylor Swift?" I was floored! "NO! YOU!" I said and pulled her into a hug. She just shrugged. Unfortunately, when they board that bus for Kindergarten, they believe those things a little less; with first grade, a little less; second, third, fourth grades, less and less and LESS. By the time I get them in eleventh grade, they either have stopped believing any of these things at all, have stopped believing most of these things, or are on the rebound and are starting to believe a little more. I tell my high school kids, "You do that to each other. And yet, you care so much about what every other self-conscious kid around you thinks of you. Did you ever stop to think that instead of pushing your parents away, you let them in? Consider listening to people who LOVE you and see the BEST in you...and that sometimes may include your great friends. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best, see the best, and inspire the best of you. Then, you will remember what it was like when you were four and you BELIEVED it too."Thankfully, Abby is pretty confident. I owe a lot of that to her teachers, her Aunt Haley, Karen, her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. She is surrounded by people who allow her to be Abbylicious ~ attitude, LOUD laugh, stubborn streaks, giggles, pranks, singing and dancing in public and ALL! I pray she is always true to herself, that she never changes to fit someone else's idea of Abby. Olivia is now on the rebound early. I tell her that secret I share with my high school students. I think she is realizing that she's pretty cool...just as she is. :D
Here is our baby girl getting her
"diploma" from the "most prettiest teacher in society"
"diploma" from the "most prettiest teacher in society" Miss Penny. Yes, she actually said that.
Abby insisted on a pretty "princess/Sharpey" dress and it is "poofing out (her) blue coat thing!"
She loved Miss Penny. She thinks she knows about "everysing under the sun and MORE!" Each day she grumbled a bit about getting out of bed at 6:30 to get her hair done when she had school, but then that night ~ we got a FULL report!!
Abby is looking forward to a little more time with Miss Penny and is all ready to go to "Summer Kamp" at her little campus on Tuesday. (Guess Miss Penny doesn't know about the number one reason to become a teacher...hmmmm...should I tell her?)
One of her most prize projects was watching her little "cattipiller" (Named what else? Yep...Sharpey)
turn into a "beauuuutiful" butterfly. It seriously started out as tall as the nail on one's pinky and about as big around as a pencil lead. Then it got bigger, bIgGeR, BIGGER...so much so that Abby screamed and ran away from it because it scared her!
But then it wrapped itself in a "cuddly coocun, like me in a sleeping bag" and it "sleeped and sleeped" and one day, Sharpey was pretty again. Olivia told us that it would "bleed" when it emerged. We weren't sure, but it DID! I took a picture of that, but I guess it didn't really take...I'm sure you are so disappointed. Anyway, Olivia, Abby, and I took Sharpey out on our dirt yard and released her. She took a long time, but she flew away into the very blustery wind of Idaho. Do you think she'll find her own butterfly Troy to chase? Abby does...in fact, she's sure of it. And, I'm fine to let her think that.P.S. WARNING!!! This will be a SHOCK to those of you who know me well. Although Abby insisted on wearing a girly, pink, poofy, princess/Sharpey dress to graduation (and reminded her dad that he purchased a wrist coursage for Olivia when she graduated...so she'd like one too please), she chased the boys through the dirt, fell in the grass, yelled, giggled, and messed up her hair while the other girls chatted under a tree. I just smiled and thought, "Yep, that's my girl." I'm learning...
