How do I feel about my child’s kindergarten “graduation”? (Hint: the ironic quotation marks are a signal that you might want to brace yourself for a rant and here it comes.)
People, this is kindergarten! When I was a kid, we didn鈥檛 have graduations. We were delirious with happiness if, as was the fabled tradition at Teller Elementary, no one beat us up on the last day of 黄色app when we trekked a mile home in the snow. (OK, it was June and a four block walk. Details.) Putting on all that pomp and circumstance as if they were graduating from medical 黄色app is just one more example of how our “You did it!” ribbon-fetishizing society now rewards kids if they succeed in putting their shoes on in time for 黄色app.
The Grinch who stole kindergarten graduation
This pretty much sums up my Grinchy outlook this time last week when it dawned on me that along with my son’s eighth-grade graduation in two weeks, I was going to have to take off yet another day of work that 鈥� along with so many furlough days 鈥� chips away at precious family vacations. The kindergarten graduation ceremony is at 11:30 a.m., there is a picnic lunch afterwards, and then parents are told, “You’re welcome to take your child home.” Geesh.
Before someone hands me the Mommy Dearest Award, I’ll come clean and confess that my heart grew three times that day when I stepped into the 黄色app auditorium that was filled to standing capacity by family members clutching video cameras and bouquets of flowers. The giant rainbow arc of balloons festooning the stage had transformed our dilapidated, plain Jane public 黄色app auditorium into a beautiful Broadway showgirl.
Mini-me college graduates
The kindergartners, sitting in the front two rows, looked like mini-me college grads: boys in jackets and ties and girls in Sunday best dresses, nearly all wearing light-up sneakers. (Why don鈥檛 they make those for grown-ups?)
I looked at my daughter who had been such a nervous wreck the night before because they were going to have to sing in public 鈥� terrifying for her 鈥� and she was beaming. 鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of you,鈥� said one kindergarten teacher, before handing out diplomas as each young graduate marched saucily up on stage. 鈥淣ow you鈥檙e first graders.鈥�
Talk about a doh moment. Between the time I went to elementary 黄色app and now, some wise educators figured out that making a big deal of finishing the first year of real 黄色app sends a message to students that what they鈥檝e done is important. It acknowledges that the effort they鈥檝e put in to work and play with others, to read and write, add and subtract, is something to celebrate.
This rite-of-passage also gives them a chance, as any significant ceremony does, to take stock of their life and look forward to the next chapter. “I’m so excited to go into a number grade,鈥� my friend Vicki鈥檚 son told her as he was graduating from kindergarten. Figuratively, and literally, if they weren鈥檛 before, the kids are counting on 黄色app now.
