Tiny toes. Precious smiles. Adorable gurgles. That’s what I think about when I picture my baby boy – who has now graduated from Kindergarten!

My son, who loves to dress up for a party, wore his little man shoes in size 13 to go with his spiffy pinstripe dress slacks, shirt and tie.

We volunteered as a family to arrive early and help my son’s teacher with her set up for the big event, and got busy setting up purple table cloths with matching purple and black balloons. We brought cupcakes, made with love, to share for treats.

As the rest of the children arrived in the classroom with their parents, they were so excited they could hardly stand it! And yet somehow they were able to be so patient and mature as we waited for everyone to arrive and for the Kindergarten teacher to take attendance and wait for the stragglers so they wouldn’t miss anything.

It was standing room only for parents as the children formed their line and performed the most adorable song that went like this:

Kindergarten, Kindergarten,
It’s time to say goodbye to Kindergarten,
Look at the progress we’ve made,
Now it’s time to go to first grade…

The teacher said some lovely words to the class about what a wonderful year it had been and the impressive accomplishments the children had made as a class, learning, growing and maturing over the months.

And then she said something so wonderful and inspiring to them. “You are so all smart and so talented and I am so proud of you.”

As I watched my son receive his Kindergarten diploma, and I saw how confident and proud he was, I couldn’t help but remember the very first day of Kindergarten when he was so very shy and wouldn’t join in with the class. But on graduation day, my handsome little boy had the tiniest smile on his face, like he had just learned a very special secret, as he stood there waiting for me to take his picture. 

After the last certificate was handed out, we watched a slideshow of pictures from the year. The kids enjoyed it as much as we did, shouting out the names of their classmates as they recognized them in the photos. The slideshow gave way to snack time and then it was a wrap. Time for parents to go home or back to work as the children continued on with their last day of school.

I would like to end this vignette by saying that my son adores his Kindergarten teacher and loved his Kindergarten experience. Kindergarten graduation snuck up on us quickly due to the current teacher’s strike but I am so grateful that our teacher, despite the circumstances, went above and beyond to organize this lovely celebration to give both the children and the parents this very special end to the school year for the class of 2014.