Over the past few weeks, I have gotten two invitations to two graduations of little girls I had in kindergarten. Wow - am I old or what!!!!???? Ha!
But, seriously, I was so touched that these girls remembered me. I was their teacher a VERY long time ago. These girls were in my class my fourth year teaching. These are the first to have invited me to their graduation, and may be the last, so I wanted to soak this up!!!
I was a teacher for 9 years before our kiddos came along, and I really did love it. I loved watching them learn to read, hearing their stories each morning, feeling their hugs as they waited in line for the bathroom, and watching them grow up in the school. I really loved those kids; Tim loved them, too. I can't tell you how many Saturday mornings we went to t-ball and basketball games, birthday parties, the "teacher center" to laminate and make materials for the next week and how many evenings we had dinner at kids' houses. Like anything, there were definitely hard days and days I didn't want to go, but getting those invitations really helped me remember being a teacher and how much I enjoyed it.
So this is the class of 2012 in kindergarten! Aren't they so cute!? Allison is the one in the middle with the animal print collar. Haley is on the front row, very far left.
Here is Allison crossing the stage at her graduation.
You can see on the screen in the background two pictures - one is her as a little girl, and one is her now. I'm sure her parents were thinking the same thing I think about my little rascals - how does the time go by so fast?
Here we are! When I saw her, my eyes really did well up in tears. I remember her as a little girl dressed up in a pink poodle skirt for "Rock and Roll Day," working hard at her table, drawing at center time, etc. How can she be about to go to UT Chattanooga? Specifically, I remember a journal entry she made around Christmas about writing to Santa at "North Pole.com!" I remember thinking how smart she was to know about the term ".com" - the internet was definitely around but not as integral to daily life as it is now. She cannot possibly know how to drive, study for exams, write term papers, fight off mean girls - and boys for that matter. Tim and I went to Allison's baptism, too, and one summer she, her mom and I went to a kids' production of Charlotte's Web at Theatre Memphis. This is such a sweet family that I will never forget! Uggh, I'll be a mess when my own kids reach this milestone!
Her wonderful parents: Karen and Kevin. Karen was one of my "Ant Time" moms! She volunteered in my class once a week during a language arts time in our day where the kids were "hard working ants" learning to read! She also volunteered for a hundred other things! We kept in touch for several years, but the past few have just been Christmas cards.
I was so happy to be able to see Allie cross this goal line!
This is Haley after receiving her diploma! She is just beaming and so excited!
Again, I remember Haley as a quiet timid girl who worked soooo hard! Her mom said she is no longer quiet and timid, but still a very hard worker! When she was little she and her sister Amy, her mom and I went to see a dolphin movie at the IMax theater. She always loved sea animals. The letter she wrote me said she is going to Arkansas State to major in biology and then on to grad school for marine biology. I was so amazed at how she is living out a passion she had as a five year old. We never know what things our kids are doing/loving now that will turn into their life pursuits later.
Haley also wrote in her letter how she has been missing "Mr. Flack's brownies" for years! We had an incentive in my class to spell out the word "COMPLIMENT" for getting compliments in the hallway. So, if a teacher or parent said, "You are doing a great job in the hall," as we walked from place to place in the school, the kids earned one of the letters in the word COMPLIMENT. So, when they spelled the whole word, Tim would make a batch of brownies for them. It always took them a while at first to earn this, but after earning the brownies a few times, they became experts! I remember several times Tim making brownies saying, "I thought they just got some last week!" It was definitely a great incentive to behave in the hall. How sweet of Haley to remember....
Tim made her some as part of her graduation gift!
This is her sweet family. Her grandmother, her mom Betty, sister Amy, and dad John. Betty was also one of my "Ant Time" moms and volunteered to help with anything! She was also a popular sub in our school. I ALWAYS wanted her to sub for me if I was out because she had been in my room so much, she already knew exactly how things went!
Haley was also very sensitive and sweet, too. I had a stuffed moose in my room that she just loved. One day, after she had been out of my class for a couple years, she came by for a visit with the moose. I had to just give it to her. No one loved "Big Moose" like her; he would be so happy to live with her! Well, in her letter, she included a picture of her and Big Moose! She still has it! So sweet!
So within a week, I went to both of these graduations. It just really meant the world to me that they remembered me and asked me to be a part of their special day. I will never forget them and their families and how special they made me feel May of 2012.
So, if through the years, your child has a teacher that connects with him/her for some reason; it makes all the difference to tell that teacher! I absolutely love being a mom, too, but it feels so good to remember those other kids who used to be my kids and to see how they have grown and flourished into such fine people!
