the class of 2009? really?!?!?

so today . . . was our preschool and kindergarten graduation.

there is soooo much i could write about this. it is both a circus and a nightmare. i am sure the parents love it--they must, because they swarm to it every year. but as a teacher, i dread the day and thank God when it is over . . .

let's just say i had the beginnings of a migraine within the first five minutes. and it was all downhill from there.

i don't want to sound too negative (i know, it is already too late for that,) but i am somewhat jaded by the whole graduation thing. i mean, really, graduation from preschool? from kindergarten?? does anyone NOT graduate from preschool or kindergarten? i don't think so. so why do it? it just adds stress to everyone's lives, and do we really need more stress in our lives?

we practice for this performance for weeks. we purchase or make costumes. we remind the parents to be there early if they want photos of their child in graduation garb. we put the pressure of making a speech on a five year old. we walk down the aisle to pomp and circumstance. we expect 4 and 5 year old children to sit still while wearing hot robes and mortarboards that won't stay on their tiny little heads, while an adult makes a speech that no one is listening to. really. i am not making this up.

and then, in the space of half an hour, it is all over. and nothing has really changed. when they come to school tomorrow, they will sit in the same classroom with the same teacher and do the same things they have been doing for the last nine months. then in the fall they will move onto the next grade, as they would have even without the ceremony.

this ceremony is all for the adults--not the children. the children have no idea why they are wearing these "dresses," and why the tassel has to hang off the front of the hat where it can tickle their face, and why they are handed a blank piece of paper, rolled up and tied with a ribbon, while their real "diploma" has already been handed to their mom or dad so as not to get crumpled. they don't know when to sit and when to stand. they don't know why that guy is up there talking, and why they have to be there to hear it. and most of all, they don't understand why they can't just go sit with their parents--they are back there, the kids can see them if they turn around in their seats, which the teacher has repeatedly told them not to do, but mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and all the aunts and uncles and cousins are sitting back there, so why can't they go too?!?!

the other day rollie said to me, "you need to stop thinking of this as a performance, and start thinking of it as a photo opportunity for the parents." that was helpful to me. i know that as a parent, you want to remember every milestone your child faces. but i guess my question is, can't we enjoy the passing from one "grade" to the next without having to have a graduation ceremony? can't we just say "good job," eat some ice cream, and move on?

it has been a rough year for me. and tonight i am tired, and i have a headache. i have no more patience for parents pushing their kids. let them be kids! let them squish jello between their fingers. let them pretend to be a dinosaur--even if you are in the grocery store and people are looking at them like they aren't normal. let them get an answer wrong without ridiculing them--maybe they just don't know the right answer yet . . . childhood lasts such a short time, and they have to be grown-ups for so long. remember that they are not 10 years old, or 14 years old, and stop expecting them to act like they are!!

as the children left the sanctuary in their graduation gowns, they were announced as "the class of 2009!" and i am thinking, really? because i am pretty sure none of these children are heading off to the university in the fall. this was mostly the class of 2022 tonight. instead of applauding their "accomplishment" of completing preschool or kindertarten, let's think about how soon that high school graduation will be here, and what kind of people we are training them to be. let's quit worrying about if they can read when they are 4 and start worrying about if we are raising them to be a generation of competent, compassionate adults. because from my observations, there seems to be a shortage of those around here . . .

whew! ok, then . . . i guess i had some stuff to get off my chest. but i want to leave you with a smile, so here is something funny joshua said to me today. jonathan went home early, so when it was time to go use the bathroom, it was just joshua and me. when we started to wash our hands, i looked in the mirror and said, "uh oh--look at my hair. i guess i will have to fix it before graduation tonight." joshua said, "why?" i said, "well, i don't think it looks very good--i just dried it after i washed it this morning, and it is kind of sticking out everywhere." he looked at me for a minute, and then said, "you don't look so bad to me."

maybe instead of teaching them to tell time, i should have taught them about giving compliments. after all, they can always use a digital clock . . .