Crazy, Crying Mothers

I'm joining the ranks of what I would have called the crazy, crying mothers.  As school winds down for the year,  my facebook feed saw a common post among many "friends":  posts about how they were going to cry and needed pockets full of tissues because their kids were graduating pre-k.  Upon reading these you could cue my eye roll.

It does pain me how fast my kids are growing up.  But seriously, accepting the fact that every year the kids move up a year in school is a reality we need to accept.  I thought these moms were being a bit melodramatic.

That was until I went to pick Ryan up from his last day of preschool on Friday.  As I watched his teachers say goodbye to him, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.  Sure, I'm hormonal, and I'm also a very emotional person.  However, for me this goodbye is about more than the fact that my child is moving up in the school world and growing up.  First, it is true that I hate goodbyes, but I find the real sadness in the fact that we are moving away from this school.  For the past two years this school and his teachers have filled a role in Ryan's life that I would not have been able to fill by myself.  This school provided him a stability that is hard to come by in the military lifestyle.  We have two years of memories with this school.  I'm sad that he will not be able to attend with his friends next year and that Sean will not get an opportunity to experience these teachers and this school.

I know that we're going where we are meant to be, and there will be great opportunities waiting for each of us at our new home.  But it's still sad to say goodbye and move away, after all watching them grow up is hard enough.

(Ryan was really excited about bringing his lunchbox for the picnic on the last day.)