To Stella, Kindergarten Graduate

Dear Stella, Last week you officially graduated from Kindergarten. I am really going to miss hearing you say what grade of school you are in when people ask. In fact, I made you say " Kindergarten" and " I'm in Kindergarten" a whole bunch of times in the past few weeks hoping I could burn it in my brain. I definitely burned it in at least one video so at least I can watch you say it for years to come. But I don't want to dwell on feeling sad that you are growing up so freaking fast because I am also so proud and excited and really looking forward to watching you continue to learn and grow and develop into your own independent person. Your kindergarten year was a huge success. You LOVED your teachers so much, understandably so. They were great you learned a lot -- your reading improved massively and you can do a pretty impressive amount of math. But I don't really care so much about any of that. I am happiest that you seem. Happy and that you made a layoff really nice friends. You did have a little more social drama than I would have liked but it was nothing you couldn't handle and I think you did a great job navigating it. I was a pretty lucky parent in that's gotto go on two field trips ( Greenberg Nature Center and Queens Museum), got to make apple crisp and Hanukkah craft stick menorahs with your class, read to your class at library, watch you as the morning meeting helper and celebrate your half birthday. I spent quite a bit of time with K21! I think the big highlight was library time. You decided that you wanted me and Dad to read " Something from Nothing" and "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble". As we did at the Y, we wanted to both read and for you to have a part too. In " Something From Nothing" it was pretty easy. You said "Grandpa can fix it" each time Joseph, the boy in the book says it( which is a lot of times). And then you did all of Sylvester's lines in " Sylvester" which was quite impressive since he has a lot to say. You did it perfectly thanks to my Tiger Momness insisting that we practice several times. It was super fun. You had such a big smile on your face as did your teachers. And when we finished, the librarian said it might have been the best rendition of "Sylvester" they ever heard. You were very excited about the final chapel because the Kindergarten was singing "2 By 2" onstage. You love this song and have been singing it at home for quite some time. It tells the story of Noah's Ark and all the animals that come on board, complete with super adorable hand gestures.you looked so happy and confident onstage singing with your class. But after school you told me that your favorite partof the ceremony was when the fourth graders walked across the stage one at a time. That part was pretty cool but my favorite partway watching you sing. Another really fun thing about having a kindergartner is spelling. You've brought home some great projects like one where you compared how many people in your class like certain colors. I had to laugh when I saw that 8 people in K21 "like blow". And compared with pink, " more people like blow". But I am contributing to our clutter problem and ensuring that you have a load of crap to go through when you get older because we have saved a ton of projects this year. Another highlight was during your post office unit when you responded to a letter from Grandma Helaine. Your reply read, "Dear Grandma, yes I am wearing knee socks. Love, Stella." you wrote to s of books and boy do you like a speech bubble. You did an amazing weaving project which you tried to keep secret from me and then gave me for my birthday. For awhile now, you have been extremely resistant to the idea of Hebrew School. Like adamantly announcing you do NOT want to go. I couldn't quite figure out your extreme resistance until recently when you told me," I don't want to go to Hebrew School. I like the school I go to." I realized that you thought Hebrew School was going to replace your current school and when I explained that it was actually an after school activity, you nodded and said, " Oh. I'm all mixed up." it was sweet because you don't get that mixed up about things anymore. I remember early in the fall we were walking down the street and you said something about a "downhouse" and I was just so happy to hear you say a wrong word. Sometimes I get to remember that oh you are still little and I have a long time to live with you. This is good because sometimes you seem so mature and grown up and I think you are basically in college. I love you very much, most wonderful fun daughter. Congratulations on a great year. I'm so happy you feel like Daddy and I chose the right school. Love, Mommy