yesterday

Today is Drake's last day of school. I am sad. Not because he will be home all day all summer( get back to me in a couple weeks) But really because he is growing up and doing it much too quickly. I started to cry when he ran out the door to the bus today. Of course, we have established that it doesn't take much to make me cry. It is just hard to imagine him a first grader. More so than kindergarten. Kindergarten just seemed like preschool with a bus. Of course it isn't. The curriculum is slightly mind boggling. I guess it was the half day.

I have decided to end the school year with some celebrating, even though it feels like March and cannot possibly be the beginning of summer. I have made cupcakes that spell out "welcome Summer". I bought some fun things to keep both boys busy, at least for the rest of the afternoon. But somehow moving on to first grade feels monumental and in need of some bells and whistles.

I remember moving on to first grade. I remember being in first grade. I loved it. I loved my teacher, Miss Bacon. What a fabulous name for a first grade teacher. There was also Mrs Rothstein who yelled at me once for yelling at her from the front of the room. She may have been nice after that but I truly don't remember. I do however remember Mrs Griswold, second grade, who gave me a Richard Scary book at the end of the year, which I still have. She signed it and everything. We also share the same birthday so I get a card every year from her. She did however have her doubts about me , I am sure, since I never stopped talking long enough to enjoy our "special arts" class on Friday afternoon. I probably still have the half done latchhook rug in my parent's attic.

There was Mrs Stachelak , who was just plain pretty and tall and had a great laugh. And Ms. Rubenstein, at least I think that was her name. All I really remember of her was I never actually saw her stand up. She was always behind her desk and directing us kids to close doors, open windows, gather supplies. I think if she had stood up half the third grade would have fainted dead away.

And of course fourth grade, Mrs Devokatis. She was cool incarnate. She let us chew gum...in class! After lunch she read a chapter from a book, we could chew gum and one lucky student got to hold her banana bookmark, which if I do remember corrrectly was quite dog-earred. She introduced me to Judy Blume with "tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". I just didn't think it could get better than fourth grade and then came fifth...

Mrs Bober and Mr Read and Mr Peronace. They laughed togather a lot. They stood outside their classromm doors talking and laughing while the students filed from room to room. I remember my book report for Mrs Bober in fifth grade. She asked what George Washington Carver discovered and I guessed peanuts much to my relief since I had not finished the book. It was boring. Mrs Bober also played the piano and Mrs Kume, the music teacher, directed our plays. I was Becky in Tom Sawyer. It was the shortest lived acting career on record but I had an awesome costume!

So I guess I remember so many good things it feels like I was just there and now I have a kid who is embarking on this journey and it seems well, surreal. How can we possibly be in elementary school at the same time?