Family Picnic and the Last Day of School

Tyler's preschool has a family picnic on the last Friday of the school year. Each family brings a picnic lunch and a blanket to sit on the playground area. This was Tyler's last preschool picnic because next year, when we go for Nathan, Tyler will be at his own big kid school and won't be able to join us.

It's always a fun day for the kids because they get to run around the playground after lunch with their friends. Tyler's best buddy at school this year was Michael. Tyler adores Michael and he will definitely miss him next year when they go to different schools.

Nathan is so ready to start preschool next year. He keeps saying, "I gonna go to school next year and Ms. Kerri gonna be my teacher!" Ms. Kerri was Tyler's teacher when he was in the 3-year-olds class, and she would always say "hi" to us when she saw us in the hallway this year. I think he's really going to love being in her class. It will definitely be an adjustment for me to have him in school, even if it is just 2 mornings each week, but I'll think about that when the time comes.

Tyler's last day of school was May 25th and graduation was the following evening (I'll post photos from that special occassion soon). I took a photo of Tyler in the same spot outside of his preschool last year and this year, and he definitely looks older in this year's photo. Our little man is growing up!

Last day of school 2010

Last day of school 2011

During our parent teacher conference a few months ago, Ms. Pam told me that Tyler is definitely ready for kindergarten. She gave me a list of all the things that Wake County would like to see beginning kindergarteners able to do on the first day, and said that he can do everything on the list and more.

Earlier in the year I'd told her that he can be very shy, but she said that after a couple weeks, he was completely out of his shell in class. She said he gets along with all of his classmates, although he usually gravitates toward Michael, and he has no trouble talking in front of everyone during circle time.

Tyler has had a crush on a little girl named Carrington since last year, and that continued into this year. In fact, the one and only time he had to sit in time out at school was when he pulled Carrington's ponytail last year. Ms. Pam made the comment, "I'm fully expecting to receive an invitation to Tyler and Carrington's wedding someday." He once told us that Carrington was his girlfriend, but when we asked him if he knew what a girlfriend is, he said, "Yeah! It's a girl who's a friend." That's right, buddy, let's go with that definition.

So Tyler is ready for kindergarten...but am I? Since the start date is still more than 2 months away, I can say that I will be ready. This kid loves to learn, so I know he's going to love kindergarten, which makes it easier on me to send my firstborn off to school. Does that mean I won't shed a few tears that first day? Let's not get carried away.