Mourning the Firsts

Since school ended on March 13th, everyone has been focused on all the lasts that are being missed.  And I am by no means saying that those things shouldn't be mourned.  I am sad for those as well.  I have kids I taught as second graders that were sixth graders this school year, and will be leaving our campus without a proper goodbye.  I get it.

But in my house we're not mourning the lasts.  In my house, we're mourning the firsts.  And I haven't seen as much talk of that.

You see, I teach kindergarten.  I'm also the parent of a Kindergartener.  And this mess has taken away all of our end of the year firsts.  We've lost our first Field Day--our first chance to celebrate our year together with a day of play.  We've lost our end of the year projects.  And you know kindergarten projects are the bomb.  I bet your mom still has yours.  But we've missed our chance to do all those cute projects about how much we've grown, what we'll do this summer, how much we love mom (and dad), and all the awesome things we learned together this year.  Those first keepsakes aren't coming home.  And it sucks.  We've lost our first yearbook signings and/or memory book making.  These were our first best friends, our first classmates.  We've spent our days together and won't get that send off.  We've lost our first end of the year celebration--whether it's a class party, a graduation/moving on ceremony, some type of awards, or whatever combination of those.  It's gone.  Sure, they'll get other ceremonies.  But they won't be with this teacher or these classmates.  And the first one is always extra special.  They won't be as cute next time the opportunity presents itself.

So at my house, and in my packed up classroom, we are mourning the loss of our firsts.  Because kindergarten is a BIG DEAL, y'all!  Not just because we learn to read.  Not just because we learn to add and subtract.  Not just because we learn how to write.  We learn how to be kind.  We learn how school works.  We learn to cooperate.  We learn to celebrate success and growth.  We learn how to be a good friend.  We learn to congratulate each other.  We learn how to persevere.

And I am stuck here having to hope that we learned those things well enough, even with our lost firsts, and our shortened time together.  Because the academics will come if we mastered the rest.  I promise, parents, the academics are the easy fix.  And while I mourn all the things we didn't get to do together, I will also remember with joy all the things we did get to do together.  And I will hope that from those moments we did have that they remember to be kind, to persevere, to cooperate, and to celebrate their growth and success.  Because that's what will get us through this.




P.S. -- I'd like to also say a huge thank you to my kid's teachers this year.  Because with their love, support, and encouragement, he did master the important things.  He's learned to be kind, to cooperate, to celebrate, to persevere because of you awesome ladies!  And that's what matters!  So thank you!!