Goodbye, Kindergarten! Hello, Grade School!

Twenty years from now, she probably won't have the faintest idea of how her moving up day went but to me and her dad it was a milestone that will be forever etched in our memory.

Moving Up Day fell on a Tuesday. Both me and my husband have work. But we knew when it was going to happen, just a few weeks after the school year started so we have no excuse to miss it. Well, I still ALMOST missed it. It fell on pre-close week and my boss was coming over for just a week. With all the things I needed to iron out, missing a day seemed really bad. But my boss (who is a family man himself, thank you J for understanding!) told me a story about a parent who missed her kid's kindergarten graduation because of an important meeting and yet 20 years after, the kid never forgot about that day (because probably of the missing parent) while she could not even remember what the meeting was about. "You wouldn't want that to happen to you, do you?".

Time to pay it forward.
These secondhand uniforms are going to a new home come school opening.
Ate Inday made sure they were well taken cared of and would still be deserving of a 3rd chance.

Mommy, sabi ni teacher wear bright, shiny shoes!

Of course not. And yes, I always know where my priorities lie. So I stuck to my decision. 

And yes, we didn't go home with any award but the kid was just so proud to be called a graduate and share that moment with her parents. THAT is more than enough.

Did I cry? Almost did. After all, we are not just saying goodbye to kindergarten. We were saying goodbye to being overprotective, controlling parents. We are saying goodbye to our "baby" (and yes she reminded me to not call her baby again today). But cuteness was just overflowing that today and the tears of joy decided to take the back seat.

I never figured I bore a performer but today proved to me I did! She was having so much on stage I could almost hear her voice even if I was a couple of meters away. She was jumping, singing, dancing, reciting with pure, unadulterated joy. And that to me is what performing always ought to be.

Her class adviser for SY 2013-14. The very patient, Ms. Jas.
We will miss her stories about you!

Post by Faye Pachoco-Paras.