Doors open and close

Today was bittersweet. Today Paulo said goodbye to Kindgergarten. School will never again be focused so much on FUN. There will be homework. There will be projects. There will be tests. There will also still be plenty of fun, hikes in the woods, walks to the river and around the neighborhood and a healthy dose of field trips. I'm thankful for that. His school provides a very active environment. Without that I'm not sure Paulo would thrive.

Today Paulo also said goodbye to some friends that he won't see again. Oh yes we say we can get them together for playdates but we're living at 80 MPH as it is and sometimes it is just tough to get those playdates from hypothetical to reality. A charter school like ours is not right fit for every child. Some parents are making the decision to move onto other schools. I have a really hard time with his "losing" friends. When families left mid year of his first year at preschool I was upset-he mind you was not. When his preschool teacher quit in the middle of his second year I was traumatized-he, again, took it in stride although he did ask me why teachers leave, that was a hard conversation. At this age he truly seems to be friends with everyone though and I was worried how he would take the news that a few of his playmates would not be returning, again he took it better than I. I've always had this romanticized view of his school years. I see him moving from year to year with the same group of kids, forming lifelong bonds, growing and laughing and learning together-in my mind I even see little birds that follow them around singing, it's always sunny out too....yeah my mind is a very pleasant place to live. I know it's not reality though and I know that goodbyes are part of life. They hurt sometimes but they are unavoidable. And really, do I want to be in contact still with every single childhood friend? Uh no! But boy in my fantasy land my son sure needs to! I have to remember that people come into, and out of, our lives at certain points for a reason. They have something to show us, to teach us, we maybe have a lesson to teach them too, and I have to remember that it's ok to say good bye. That's what I was saying in my head today as I stood sniffling through the slide show his adorable teacher had put together, it's ok for Kindergarten to end. It's ok for Paulo to get another year older. It's ok for him to learn to say goodbye. And just as sure as he had to say goodbye to a friend today he'll say hello to a new friend next year.