The Last Day of Kindergarten.
It's pretty unbelievable that Simon is finishing his last day in Kindergarten today.
Chris took this shot of him last week when I was in Houston. Running through the house in one of his many costumes. Right now he is "working for" a Storm Trooper costume. He's been wearing this Tigger one for years. [ Just thinking that a layout about his various costumes is definitely in order. ]
Found this one from January 2006 - nothing needs to be rolled up anymore.
I asked Simon what his favorite thing was about Kindergarten and he replied, "going out to recess."
Chris and I sat down the other night and reminisced a bit about watching Simon experience Kindergarten. Here are some of the things that stood out for us (it is written to him - these comments will become a layout called "We Remember"):
We remember driving you to school each morning; holding hands as we walk across the cross-walk and always saying “look both ways;” waiting for “the kids” to be released from the cafeteria; you walking upstream into the crowd of kids until you found Alexis and then turning around and heading back towards the classroom; placing your lunch token into the pockets on the wall; taking off your backpack and stuffing it in your cubby; following directions and keeping your "star" in "green" (Chris wondering if we would be walking you in to school when you were in highschool).
We remember the tough transition days in the beginning as you got used to the new routine, new surroundings, new teachers, and new kids.
We remember that many days (just up until about two months before school was over) you would stand at the window next to the door and wave and watch us drive away.
We remember the day we finally followed the regular routine of dropping you off outside. Daddy took the leap first. You were super brave and followed the directions perfectly. Such a big kid.
We remember watching, and working with you, as you learned to read and write. We remember specifically how excited we were when you came home one day and showed us that you could "correctly" hold your pencil. You would come home from school and pull the papers out of your backpack to show me what you had worked on during class. You would sit at the table working on your handwriting homework and be so proud of yourself as you wrote your letters and later, words.
We remember that lunch from day one has been “school lunch” : chicken nuggets, bagel + cream cheese, chicken burger, cheese pizza, nachos, pretzel, etc. You were always happy to share your choice.
We remember how hard you were working on standing in line and how much you always wanted to be the line-leader. You would come home and tell us about how one of your other classmates got to be line-leader that day and how frustrated you were because it was not your turn.
We remember the star system your teachers used: when your star was in green it meant you were following directions (that was the goal each day...to "stay in green"). You were super concerned on the days your star was in yellow or the very occasional red. You did not like it when your start was moved out of green. You brought your star home yesterday and you were so excited to place it on the refrigerator.
We remember lots of experiences related to the school bus. As the year progressed you got more comfortable on the bus and on many days were fast asleep when the bus pulled up to our house. Some of my favorite memories are the days when I walked outside and saw you sitting next to one of your classmates.
We remember the general anxiety related to your development. Would you make friends? Would you do ok? Would you move forward? The reality is that you did just fine. Sure there were challenges and good + bad days...but overall, you seemed really, truly happy just being you. What more could we ask for?
We remember so many little moments: how you would bring home the same library book week after week and think it was so funny when we would open your backpack and there it would be again; you eating a bagel + cream cheese + OJ every morning for breakfast without fail.
We remember how very thankful we are to be your parents and how much you make us better people every single day.
And when I was going through the large grocery bag of papers he brought home yesterday I found this:
It is so exciting to have a 1st grader with all those accomplishments behind him. Wow does he write well, my soon to be 3rd grader (also on the spectrum) doesn't write that well, we still have our challenges. Always LOVE the great days. Congratulations Simon, enjoy 1st grade.
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What a poignant letter to your son. What a blessing to have so much recorded and documented in his life. I am so sorry that I did not pick up scrapbooking until my kids were adults but I am trying with my granddaughter to have some of this type of documentation completed as she grows up (she is 8 now). Thank you so much for all the very real things that you share on your blog.
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I love every single word that you have in this entry. I LOVE the "We remember" theme - what a precious idea. I may borrow it in the coming weeks as my husband and I take my 10-year-old grandson on a 2-week trip across the United States in our motorhome. I will be doing a scrapbook with my grandson as we travel.
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Beautiful remembering Ali!
My son is about to finish Grade 1 and so many of thie things you wrote, I could have written the same or very similar about him. The part about your concerns and him and him doing just fine really resonates with me because we have experienced that too. I was releived for you when I read it.
Keep on enjoying the journey. We have been blessed with treasures in disguise. As they grow older, more and more of their true treasureness (not a real word I know) are discovered.
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fabulous, just fabulous!! keep up the good work, young man!!
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how nice it will be for all of you to look back & remember these times. and i'd have to say that simon's parents grew just as much as he did! keep up the great work--it's a job with more rewards than any other you'll ever hold.
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Oh oh oh! I am so glad I stopped by today. I love this post. I can relate to so much in this post. (And yes, we are still having "lining up for school" issues here...) Thanks for putting a smile on my face this morning. :)
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Simon has truly made a lot of progress this year. You must be so proud of him and yourselves for reaching and attaining so many goals. I love your journaling for his future. When he looks back in years to come, he will realize the great strides he made.
Sue
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Wow. I just got all teary. What a wonderful way to look back over the past year. It must have been such a rewarding year. He seems to have accomplished SO much. He is so lucky to have you as his parents and vice versa. Congratulations to you all.
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Wow. I just got all teary. What a wonderful way to look back over the past year. It must have been such a rewarding year. He seems to have accomplished SO much. He is so lucky to have you as his parents and vice versa. Congratulations to you all.
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Wow! Such an accomplishment to make it through that first year of school. I'm so glad the year was a good one despite any challenges you all faced. Simon is lucky to have you all as parents.
here's to a great summer!
y
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Wow. Absolutely amazing! The teacher and mom of an almost 6-year-old in me is welling with tears.
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Did he draw the curved border all around the outside? Isn't it amazing how they pick up the littlest things from their parents!
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Such cute pics and I love his when I grow up page. As a Kindergarten teacher it's always fun to hear a parent's perspective!
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awesome memories. awesome drawing.
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Love this! My son just finished first grade and I had this pile of STUFF to sort through. This post reminds me of the post I just did on my blog here (also written to him and saved for journaling on a scrapbook page tbd):
http://ourhereandnow.blogspot.com/2008/06/first-grade-finished.html
and here:
http://ourhereandnow.blogspot.com/2008/06/first-grade-finished-continued.html
Just thought I'd share. I am also into taking photos of my kids' artwork so I loved that post too.
Enjoying your blog! Thank you!
=)
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Man, I have a huge lump in my throat! Love what you and Chris did. What a tremendous gift for Simon. I've been feeling pretty sorry for myself as my son prepares to leave home for the summer and enter his senior year. Your post has helped me embrace the wonderful moments the next twelve months will bring, instead of feeling that time is a a thief, stealing precious days away and holding onto him so tightly that I don't allow him to GROW.
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What a very cool thing to do and thank you very much for making me sit here and cry. the teacher in me for the young boy who made tremendous progress in his first year of school and the mom in me for the mom in you who is just so darn proud of her boy! You guys rock!
Stacie
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Loved hearing your son is working for a storm trooper costume mine just earned a darth vadar one. Glad to know I am not the only mom stuck in the land of Star wars:)
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We met at CKU-D last year. My sister and I took your album track--both of our sons have Autism (mine had just been dx'd).
Evan mainstreams to K this coming year. Reading your comments gives me such hope that he will do well. That he will make it. Thanks so much for sharing Simon with us. It helps me more than you will ever know.
GodBless--
Laura
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Lovely. All I could think about when reading your post was how lucky this little boy is to have parents like you...and how lucky you are to have him.
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Thanks for sharing this Ali. I'm in tears reading this post. It's so nice to read your reflections on Simon, as we get ready to send our son to JK in September. He is on the Autism spectrum too, and we share so many similar joys and worries as the ones you write about - I guess that's what made me cry. Not in a sad way so much, but in a hart-warming way. I also hope my son finds a friend to sit next to on the bus, and can learn to follow directions - fingers crossed. I love Simon's picture! I'm blown away by how awesome his drawing is! I guess he comes by creativity honestly!
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Hi Ali. I had to laugh when I was catching up on your blog posts and read this one. My daughter is 8 and still says her fave part of school is recess! LOL And it was interesting to hear about the colored "stars" that your school system uses. My daughter's school uses square cards and the colors mean the same thing as Simon's and I live in the Midwest, so thought that was pretty neat.
Corinna
www.myscrapbooklife.com
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