Skip to main content

Last Day Part I

Today was Phoebe's last day of preschool; Mallory still has two weeks of school to go, which of course she finds vastly unfair. "Will you be sad not to go to school anymore?" I asked Phoebe last week, and she said, "Of course not!" but I think she'll miss it, even if only secretly.

At their year-end program last night (pictures? I'd love to share, except that I have lost yet another camera), the preschool director told me, "Lots of kids blossom in their first year of school, but with Phoebe -- well, more than one butterfly came out of her cocoon," which is kind of a convoluted way of saying that Phoebe came way out of her shell in a big way. She started as the girl who wouldn't make eye contact with her teachers or say a single word to another child; now she makes jokes with the teachers, has lots of friends, and she sang the loudest in the show last night too. Plus, she can spell her name (or almost -- P H O B E), cut with scissors, and draw people with faces. Success!

And lest you think I'm bragging, or making it up, her teacher presented me with a 70-page document outlining every blessed thing Phoebe learned this year, from Objective 1.1 (Child enters classroom easily) to Objective 3.7 (Child grasps pencil correctly) to Objective 10.7 (Child can balance on one foot) -- with photographic evidence of every skill. No kidding. It's quite impressive. Or obsessive, as the case may be.

So, this chapter is over. We move on to summer, and then to another year of preschool, and then finally to kindergarten -- when she and Mallory will finally be on the same schedule and can be dropped off at the same school entrance! That's a day I'm really looking forward to.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good for Phoebe! Can't wait to see what she learns next year.

Mom
Chris said…
When do they learn to tell people you're a serial killer?

Popular posts from this blog

Merry Christmas to Joey, too!

Scene: After the Christmas pageant. Me: You did great, Mallory, we're proud of you! Mallory: What was your favorite part? Me: Hmm. I liked the "Whatcha Gonna Call That Baby?" song. Chris: I liked that one too. Me: But I also liked "Joy to the World." Mallory: Joey in the world? What's that? Me: No, joy to the world, the song you just sang. Mallory: Oh yeah. Me: That's one of my favorite songs. Phoebe: A favorite song is a song that's your favorite and you like it and you sing. (Pause) Phoebe: And you dance. Mallory, before the show, in front of our haphazardly decorated Christmas tree. Phoebe declined to be photographed. All I was able to photograph of the event itself: Phoebe, objecting to the camera's flash: Now she closes her eyes before I snap every picture. Sigh. But she's cute anyway! And so is Mallory! And their dresses match! We're thinking Arby's: Okay, that's it! Recently read: The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife . ...

A Picture Post

A poster Chris drew for the annual Harvest Day Bake Sale, proceeds to benefit Mallory's preschool: A poster Chris drew for Mallory's class. What did Phoebe say when she saw it? "El-mo!" She's good at spotting that little red monster, even when he's not red. Our beautiful new chair! Which actually matches our beautiful new couch! Phoebe looking pretty. Mallory looking goofy. My girls.

Little sisters

Mallory was invited for a sleepover tonight; this morning, as she was packing her suitcase, Phoebe came in and said, "Me too!" When Chris found her suitcase, and gently told her that she wasn't invited to the sleepover, she cried for an hour. I think I'll always have a special sort of sympathy for Phoebe, my second child, because I was the second child too*. (And it's odd, because although I have younger siblings as well, I always think of myself as a little sister, or as the younger older sister, if that makes sense. I think that's because Jana, my big sister, was so good at being the oldest, responsible and, uh, authoritarian, and I am, well, fundamentally irresponsible. We all bowed to her! In a good way. I could never live up to that.) I often feel sorry for Phoebe, left behind while Mallory goes to school all day, because I well remember the long, lonely boring days I spent waiting for Jana to come home from school (not counting the days I spent playing i...