School’s Out for Summer! (boohooooo?)

Yesterday was Aliya and Adlani’s last day of school and I had some last-day business to take care of so I ended up picking them up at noon dismissal.  I remember the last day of school from waaaaaaaay back in the 70’s…taking home all the crap that had accumulated, washing the desks, and getting ready to do nothing for 2+ months.  And when I say “do nothing,” I mean DO NOTHING.  Although I did go to camp a few times for a week, we didn’t have the summer schedules that most families have now.  We mostly just hung around the house playing with rocks and sticks.  Still, the last day of school was exhilarating!

So it was completely unexpected to be standing in the school lobby, and have lines of sobbing kids passing by.  I guess it’s a good sign that they love their teachers, but it’s SUMMER VACATION, for crying out loud!  Time to have fun!  Sleep late!  Camp out!  Swim!  Make S’Mores!  Not to mention the fact that these kids can communicate with each other and even with their teachers so much easier than we could.  When I was a kid we had a party line…for those who haven’t experienced a party line, we shared our phone line with a neighbor.  We could tell who the call was for based on the ring.  Sometimes when we picked up the phone to call out, they were already using it.  We lived out in the boonies so we couldn’t walk or ride our bikes to our friends’ houses, and we didn’t have a computer.  There was no Facebook or email.  Maybe I should have been the one sobbing back then.

So the year-end frenzy is over…the teachers’ gifts have been delivered, everything that needed to be picked up from school or returned to school is checked off the list, and summer has begun.  And I will tell you after Day 1, somebody is getting medicated – either me or them.

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Aliya had Señora MacKay for a summer program 2 years ago, and she was hoping and praying to have her as her teacher. She lucked out and had her for 3rd grade, and she absolutely loves her. She’s like a little clone. When Aliya was talking about who she hoped to have for 4th grade, she said, “It doesn’t really matter who I have, because I can make any teacher love me.”  Now that’s confidence.

Here’s a photo of Adlani with the blanket I made for his teacher’s baby, Ravi.  Adlani has been checking with me every day to see if it was ready.  When the blanket was about 2 inches wide, he asked if he could take it to school.  His rationale was that Ravi wouldn’t be that big when he came out, so a 2-inch wide blanket would be just fine.

And here’s Adlani’s note to his teacher.  In case you don’t speak First Grade, it says “Hi Señora Jeyadame.  I am going to miss you.  And I want you to have a nice time with Ravi.  Gracias para todo.  Te quiero.  Adlani”

In case you missed it on Facebook, here’s Adlani’s video message to his teacher, along with his reading demonstration.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoob5kjPP38?rel=0&w=560&h=349]