Last Day of School

Amelia is no longer a kindergartner! Yesterday was her last day of school and I took her picture by the sign, which I had also done on the first day of school. Different angle, though. Much different emotions, too. In August, it was full of expectations and now it's like, "What just happened?" Seriously ... we're done? I also took her picture with her teacher and the helper.

We also found her pillow pet. She managed to take it every day since at least Christmas and didn't come home with it Monday. I didn't notice until Tuesday morning and when it wasn't at school, I mentioned it to her teacher who told me she didn't remember saying good-bye to it the previous afternoon. (Ha! I didn't know until then that Amelia has Ms. Mary say good-bye to it each afternoon! How cute.) I emailed Daddy who thought he had seen it the night before when he was tucking her in, but that proved to be a different critter. After she went to bed Tuesday night, I got to thinking about it and realized something was up because Amelia didn't seem concerned. I don't want her to be too materialistic so I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but then I started wondering if someone took it from her and she was afraid to tell me. So when she woke up yesterday I gently asked her what she thought happened to her pillow pet. "When I'm waiting in the pick-up line at school and Emily is behind me, she always plays with it but sometimes she forgets to give it back." Ah-ha! But I thought Emily was a bus rider ... turns out it was an Emily in Ms. Betsy's class and when we got to school and stuck our heads in Ms. Betsy's class, what do we see right in front of Emily? Yep, the pillow pet. Amelia was thrilled. Emily said she found it on the floor and we thanked her. (Ms. Betsy later told me she was glad she brought it back because she doesn't always bring things back.)

I am glad Amelia didn't have to end her school year with a her pillow pet being stolen, and I am sorry there are children that feel they need to steal. There's one in Amelia's class, too, who steals (according to the teacher). This same girl has begged Amelia for her pillow pet all year, and she has also bullied Amelia. I tried dealing with it at home by giving Amelia responses for Taylor, but finally had to bring it to the teacher's attention after she made Amelia put rocks in her mouth on the playground. (The teacher spoke to her and kept them apart and we had no further problems.) Prior to the rocks incident, Amelia wanted to give Taylor a different pillow pet from home that she never plays with. I was concerned at that time about setting a precedent for Amelia giving away toys to children who ask for them (especially these bully types), but I also thought it was sweet that it was Amelia's idea to give her the unwanted pet. We waited until the end of school to do it. Since Amelia still wanted to give her the pet, we brought it in Tuesday morning. Amelia was so excited about giving it to Taylor! (We brought it Monday but left it in the car since we were running a little late due to all the extra stuff for water day - extra clothes, sunscreen, etc.) It was sweet to watch her happily give Taylor the pet, even though I was a little worried that she may wind up with no pillow pets since her cat was missing at that point. But it all worked out!

Amelia has been a little less pleased with school over the past week or two since apparently they stopped doing a lot of their normal things in anticipation of the end of school. I don't know why they have to do that, and the last few days were especially unstructured. This past Friday they had a little celebration ceremony at 8:30 and when I dropped her off at 8 am (on my way to get Nana and return for the ceremony), I was told I could take her home after the ceremony. Well, of course, Amelia wanted me to take her home (and I would have loved to) but I was totally unprepared. Fortunately, Amelia wasn't the only one and there were 11 kids that stayed that day. The ceremony itself was nice with the kids singing a few songs and getting their kindergarten graduation certificates. Daddy noticed how they each handed it to the helper when they got back in line! We also got a nice memory book of pictures the teacher put together. Ms. Betsy is retiring after this year and they played a sad song while each child from each class gave her a carnation. Many of the kids were crying by the end, too. Kind of sad on an otherwise happy day.

She came home a few days ago worried about first grade. I think Ms. Mary has been talking to them a lot about how first grade will be different. I took her to see one of the first grade teachers and asked about their daily routine. Ms. Moore was so nice and showed her around the classroom and several of the other children helped her describe their day - how they have two snacks (kindergartners are required to go to breakfast, it's optional for everyone else), read and have homework and spelling tests, and all that good stuff. Amelia hasn't worried about it at home since!

I was waffling about getting her a yearbook and so yesterday morning I bought one and she got excited about her friends signing it so I left it with her for the morning. The helper said she would make sure it made it to Amelia's back pack and it is so cute with each kid signing their name in a different color on the inside cover. Amelia had fun looking at all the pictures of her friends and people she knows from this year. I am glad I went ahead and got her one. They did a nice job - the whole thing is in color.

We also went to the dermatologist yesterday since Amelia has a spot on her cheek from a band-aid that is still slightly noticeable after 6 weeks. The dr. confirmed it is definitely an adhesive reaction but should eventually go away (it's like a slight shadow). She also said that she has the type of skin that would probably develop rosacea when she is grown (which Grandma has so I guess it's hereditary). I had her look at a spot on the back of her knee from last year. Our family doc said it was just some odd skin thing and to put ointment on it. The dermatologist said it looked like eczema. It's cleared up now, but you can still see where the skin is slightly lighter. I was a relieved it wasn't some kind of fungus or strange skin disorder. Hopefully it was something she ate (maybe too many strawberries - she loves those things and eats too many) or other seasonal thing, but I'll still watch for a recurrence.

Now, onto our summer!