My inaugural preschool year is over. How in the world is it already over? There is some serious truth to the old adage that says time moves faster when you are doing something you love and enjoy. I was all kinds of cheesy and cliche today....tearing up over sweet notes from parents, tearing up when I said goodbye to my babies at the end of the day, tearing up when I sent my own children off for their first "last day of school." I have been thinking about this all afternoon and realized there are quite a few things that I seriously love about my job....things that will carry me throughout the summer until the regular school year starts again.....
- I love the relationships I built with parents in my class. I lucked out BIG time this year in regards to my parents. I got some of the sweetest notes today from parents, notes that made me feel truly appreciated. I have had parents ask me for my opinion regarding their child and genuinely care about my answer. I had parents tear up today when they picked up their babies, just as I teared up when they left. And at the end of the day, I am all mushy-gooshy thinking about my first set of "preschool parents" and not ready to let the love fest end. Would it be weird to email them this summer just to say "hey!!!".....probably.....right?
- I get to see my own babies whenever I want. I get to see them working in their class, eating with their friends, playing with their friends....I was able to attend all of their big events this year, join them for spontaneous lunch dates in their classroom and grab a hug and kiss from Matthew whenever I wanted. Nothing beats that. Nothing.
- I got to watch the kids in my class truly learn. Some of them came to me unable to name one letter by sight. And when they left, they knew the whole alphabet. That is pretty amazing. I know I taught my 8th graders some great things, and they always did awesome on their state tests, but there is something about watching a 3 year old learn things they will utilize every single day, for the rest of their lives......
- My co-workers. I freaking love them. I doubt my co-teacher even reads this, but if you do....Jenn, you are amazing. I hope you know how much you taught me this year and how much I cherish our friendship. And you should read my blog more.
Those are just some of them. Obviously, there are so many more, but we are teetering on a pretty lame, boring post, so I have to stop somewhere.
It has been fun to think about how far we (the Ley family) have come this year at school. When we started, Matthew was only 8 months old....he refused bottles, barfed all over his teachers, screamed during nap time...he was basically awesome. Now he refuses real food, screams during nap time and tries to escape their planned activities.....basically just as awesome as before. Jonathan was 2 and a half....he started out as the class clown, went through a weird "I am a space cadet" phase thanks, in part, to his Singular prescription, and ended the year back as the class clown.....but a very smart class clown. I like to think he is the smartest in the class. Obviously. And me....when I started teaching, I was a hot mess. I was FREAKING out about decorating my classroom, had no idea what size label to use for name tags (and I mean, you can NOT mess that up!), literally had no idea what to teach.....y'all should have seen me trying to lead my first circle time....oh. my. goodness. I just kept looking at Jenn with pleading eyes, "HELP ME!" And help me, she sure did. I am leaving this year so much more confident. I love teaching these kids.
I apologize for this somewhat over dramatic review of our year. I just want to always remember how much I enjoyed this year, how much my boys enjoyed this year and how seriously thankful I am for the opportunity.
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