Oh, the places she'll go!

Frances graduated preschool this week.  *SOB*  She is killing me, this one.

Frances has been attending this wonderful school since she was ten weeks old and I will be forever indebted to the extraordinary teachers and directors that have been a part of our lives for these last 4 ½ years.

The school made these adorable collages for each child

She's always loved the water!

  

I am a firm believer that it takes a village to raise a child (if you’re lucky enough to have one!) and Miss Diana and Miss Peggy, her infant to one-year-old teachers, were the mayors of our village for many years, even years after she graduated from their class.  When Will and I dropped her tiny, 2 ½ month old, squirmy, warm body into their arms that first day, we were weepy eyed and unsure—not just about leaving her there, but completely unsure of how to be a parent.  Her teachers gently and lovingly guided us through those tricky first months—first solids, first finger foods, first shoes, first words, first teeth, first fever, first steps and first birthday.  There are moments that I am so sad my insides ache that I missed most of those firsts; but I am equally happy that such incredible women were there in my place.  I know Frances loved them as though they were her own grandmothers.

First day/Last day

And now, she’s on her way to Kindergarten (via a summer at home with George and me, thank goodness!).  I am so proud of her I could pop.  I’m proud that she always follows her teachers’ directions; I am proud that she’s shy, but (as I am told) is a natural leader in the class; I am proud that she’s a kind, sweet friend expressing genuine happiness when others succeed or bring a coveted toy to school (a trait her mother still struggles with); I am proud that just last month her teacher asked if we were going to have any more kids because she loved our children so much (after a morning playground meltdown, I really needed to hear that); but most of all, I’m proud that she’s fully embraced our crazy family regardless of its changes—from maternity leave when I thought I could never leave her, through my crazy work schedule when I had to physically push her away so I could finish preparing for a trial, through George’s birth, his tumultuous toddlerhood, and finally to my full-time mother status.  She has been the ideal companion and my best friend through it all.

Holding on for dear life

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

-          Dr. Seuss’s Oh the Places You’ll Go!

Happy Friday, everyone!