Elly's Art Show... The End Of A Chapter

    As I write this I feel a little sad.  I am feeling a loss.  I know it's foolish.  Elly is in the final weeks of nursery school.  I have no more babies.   It really does kind of feels like a loss.  She goes to junior kindergarden next year, real school.  My last baby is going to school this fall.  On and off for the last 14 years I have been taking a little hand and walking across to the nursery school, and that will never happen again.  When I look across (we live across from the school that houses the nursery school, I know convenient) at the playground and see the nursery school kids out playing, I will no longer stain my eyes to pick Elly out and see if she's having fun.  All 5 kids went to that nursery school.  We could only send them one morning a week, but they enjoyed it, and now that chapter is coming to an end.

    To celebrate the end of the year the nursery school holds an art show.  It is a lot of work (I know. This is the first year I have not helped out).  The school gym gets covered in nursery school art.  There are snacks and cold drinks.  There is the line up of parents with cameras waiting to get a picture with their little one and the teachers.  There are the little ones all proudly pointing out their art, it's nice.

    Elly has been so excited for her art show for the last week or so.  I bought her a new dress and a tiny crown for her big show.  She would have to tell everyone about her new dress and crown and "Are you coming to my art show?"  a dozen times a day.  She would call Nana and Papa everyday "Are you coming to my art show?  I've got a pretty new dress.   Mommy bought me a crown."  All Wednesday she could only talk about her art show that night.  We had to do her nails, and they had to have balloons on them.  We had to keep pulling out her new dress and crown so that she could look at them.  We had to run down who was coming to her art show.

Elly said this was me, I can see the likeness.

    The big night came.  She could barely contain the excitement.  Before we left there were many "take my picture" requests,  as she did various crazy poses in the yard.  Nana and Papa came over and we all walked over.  She was the celebrity, the centre of attention, well at least in our family.  The kids were really good and made a big fuss over her, asking her about her art.  After all of the talk, all of the excitement when we walked into the gym she was quite sedate.  

   We looked for her art, and of coarse took pictures of her with her art.  For me the cutest moment was when she saw her friend Sammy.  She walked over and said "Hi Sammy", with this little bashful voice, and Sammy in return said "Hi Elly".  Why was this so cute and exciting?  Because instead of being my little baby, who is only exposed to what I expose her to, she had a friend, who I did not make for her.  She had a life away from me.  Although I want her to stay my baby forever, I want her to grow independence and and have fun experiences that she has created for herself.

    After all of the excitement, the art show took approximately 15 minutes.  She was so proud of herself.  She walked home with her head held high, and with a little skip.  The big kids all told her nice things about her art, and her smile got bigger and bigger.  I know that it was just 15 minutes of my life, but for her that has to make a big mark on her.  In a family with 4 kids to vie for attention, for 15 minutes she was the centre of attention.  She was a star.  I guess that's what it's all about.

Thank you Little Learners for all of your hard work, it was noticed and appreciated.