Preschool Graduation

Another milestone has been reached for our little Jacob. He has completed 4 years of Kingston United Methodist Early Start Preschool. He loved every day. All of his teachers throughout the years only had good things to say about Jacob. Jacob never got in trouble or in time-out. I never got any bad behavior reports on him or anything like that. He always had good report cards at the end of each day. His report cards always read as follows:

Today I felt: Great

I Played: With my friends

My Behavior was: Great

I Ate: Really well

My Attention Span: Listened Great

Rest Time: I did not take a nap today

These reports always made me smile. We are so proud of Jacob and all of his accomplishments thus far. He is such a well mannered, well behaved, cool, calm and collected, roll with the flow kind of kid. We know he will do so well in Kindergarten. I know one thing is for sure, I will miss him tremendously when he goes to Kindergarten every day. I am struggling with it right now.

The preschool staff put together a little book about Jacob and the things he did this year with a few cute poems and stories. One of the stories in the booklet really pulled at my motherly heartstrings and I would like to share it with you. It relates to a child going to Kindergarten for the first time and how he and his mother deal with it. Get your tissue ready!

Thoughts At The Bottom Of A Beanstalk

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand new book bag. Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack's first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother. Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it looked. Mom swallowed. Maybe she should have held Jack out a year.................

Jack's mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder and smiled down at him. She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing. Jack didn't say a word. He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf. He balanced there for a moment and then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother. She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, no sound to indicate that he was anywhere in sight. "Sometimes," she thought, "it's harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk." She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes act silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing.

"I'd better not. What if he saw me?" She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that, after all, this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications. "It's not so much that I am worried about him," she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's just that he's growing up and I'm going to miss him."

Jack's mother turned to leave. "Jack's going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life," she told herself. "Today's the day he starts practicing for them......and today's the day I start practicing something too: Cheering him on and waving good-bye."

Was that a tear-jerker or what? I am crying my eyes out right now. I can barely see to type. I need to call my mom.....................

Okay, I just talked to my mom and I feel better. Mommy can always make it better. She told me that by me being upset takes her back to my first days of Kindergarten. She said what was worse for her is that I did not look forward to Kindergarten and I cried everyday and begged her not to leave me there. I won't have that problem with Jacob because he is already looking forward to it and he does well when I leave him places such as the kid classes when we visit different churches and stuff like that. He will do great...it's just my own separation anxiety that I am dealing with. It will all be okay and I am leaning and depending on God to make it alright......and He will.