Holding back the tears.

Today my little girl graduated from her first year of preschool.  I don’t know where the time has gone but somehow over the past three and half years she has transformed from a little, helpless, squishy infant into a beautiful, intelligent, sweet little girl.  Everyday when I look at her, I am amazed at the little person that she is.  She is truly the light of my life and I can’t imagine a life without her in it.

When Brinley started school back in September she was a totally different child.  She was extremely shy and cried every morning when I dropped her off at school.  It broke my heart to see her like that but I knew that eventually she’d come around and love school… So what if it took almost four months.  Now, eight months later, she is so sad that school is over.  She tells me everyday that she doesn’t want to have a summer vacation because she loves school.  I just keep reminding her that she’ll enjoy the break and she’ll be going back in September.

Back to today… For weeks Brinley and her little class of seven other kids have been preparing for their end of the year musical program and graduation.  She’s been singing all sorts of songs at home that she has learned in school and I was very curious to see how this would all play out live on stage at school.  The day finally arrived and she got dressed up in a cute little dress.  She was so excited this morning to perform for us at school and to take part in the finale.  I dropped her off at the usual 9am and ran home to finish getting myself and Nora ready.  I knew that I’d need to get there a little earlier than 10am to be sure to get a seat.  But when I pulled into the school parking lot at 9:35am and there was not a single spot in sight, I was a little taken aback.  I finally found a place to park and headed inside.  When I got inside the gymnasium I was once again surprised to see that nearly every single seat had already been taken or reserved.  From talking with another mom, I learned that some parents had gotten to the school as early as 8am to reserved their seats.  (At least I’ll know better for next year!)  Anyway, I managed to find a seat for Nora and I but Scott would have to stand when he arrived.

The show started and Brinely’s class was the second to preform.  She walked perfectly into the gym with her classmates and lined up on the stage all ready to sing.  She saw us and smiled and the look on her face was of such joy.  It truly melted my heart.  Then they began to sing and my once quite little girl was up there as proud as can be belting out the words to every single song.  It made me so proud and I began to feel my throat get tight and my eyes well up with tears.  And trust me I am NOT a sappy person.  I held back the tears but it was an emotional moment to say the least.  Brinley recieved her diploma and walked down from the stage with the rest of her class.  The entire performance (for her class) lasted maybe 8 minutes but those were 8 minutes that I’ll never forget.

Seeing your children grow up and change and be so proud of themselves is amazing.  And knowing that your love, support and guidance has brought them to that place is a very overwhelming feeling.  I am so proud of my little girl and though I’d like her to stay little forever, I am so excited to watch her continue to grow and prosper.  I have no doubt that she will achieve great things in life.

Now, can someone pass me the tissues? ::sob, sob::