G graduated Kindergarten!
After over 3 years in the “Early Childhood” classroom at her Montessori school G is moving up.
And I feel like we are also moving up as a family. No one in this household will be in kindergarten or below – ever again! I feel like we are officially exiting the Little Kid era into Middle Childhood territory. It will be so weird NOT dropping off a kid in the classroom where she’s been for so long.
It’s a little bit bittersweet but it’s also awesome. She is growing up!! We can enjoy different kinds of adventures and she is ready to learn new things. I’m excited and proud and ready, and I think she is too.
(Each kid stood up and stated career intentions. There are apparently a lot of future soccer stars . . . but only a few doctors, and she was one of them. Josh and I had no idea what she was going to say. We’ll see if her answer stays consistent over time!)
Poster her teacher put together (we sent in pix):
We have a lovely family photo but I need to run it by the big kids who request approval for each photo they are in (understandable).
OF COURSE said day was complicated by G waking up with a crazy rash all over her face, to the point where she couldn’t go to school. She’s been dealing with hives for weeks so we thought it was that but this is definitely something different (seems more poison ivy like and we are unclear as to what actually caused it).
We are going to see the allergist soon about the hives but I’m confident these were actually NOT hives. Thankfully they are slowly improving. But wow. ALLLLLLLWAYS something, you know!?
Also, the big kids are done!!
Bye, 4th + 6th grade!! A will be entering a new school next year so it really is the end of a (lovely) era where all 3 kids were in one place. I did enjoy it for the past 3 years! In the end, I think everyone learned + grew a lot this year. We had our very first travel sports experience and survived (and signed up again omg). We tried various things and some worked; some didn’t. We learned from our mistakes and moved forward.
I am ready for SUMMMMERRRR, I guess Q3 truly begins today (or tomorrow)! But I will also be excited for 1st / 5th / 7th in the fall. The days are long AND the years are short.
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Poor G waking up with a rash on the last day of school! That is too bad! I am glad she could still attend graduation. G is the only child I’ve “known” since she was born as I found your blog through BOBW. She’s so close in age to my oldest so they are in the same stage of life. Our school doesn’t have a kindergarten graduation, though. I hope the allergist can figure out what is causing the hives! That sounds terrible!!
Having 1 drop off sounds amazing so I’d be sad to see that era come to an end, too. We have one more year of 2 drop offs and then in the fall of 2025, our youngest will hopefully start a Pre-K program at the elementary school. Then we’ll have 4 years of one drop off, but then they won’t be in the same school until my oldest is a senior in HS!
i was lucky enough to get in today + the allergist thinks the current rash might be virally triggered but ordered bunch of labs for chronic hive workup. i kept thinking they would go away but it’s been 2 months and nope. luckily Zyrtec usually helps a lot!!
Aww congrats Genevieve, what a milestone. Hope the rash quickly resolves (there truly is always something hey!). I currently have two drop offs (luckily my husband and I can do one each most days) – from Jan 2026 we will have just one for 4 years as our youngest enters kindy. That will definitely feel like end of an era (I always say “survive til 5” and then they will both be 5).
survive until 5 is definitely a thing for some of us (myself included)! my kids may end up together again the year after – will be some tough decisions next year. but yeah, all kids in one place is really awesome on a lot of levels!
By the time our daughter goes to high school (in just a little over a year…um, what now?!) we will have had 5 years of one dropoff. But we have a bus option so both kids will bus to separate schools at that point. What makes me sad is after next year – Grade 8 for her – they will never be in the same school again. She’ll graduate high school and our son will transition to high school the following year. Though, given how much they fight with each other, maybe it’s a good thing.
I hope G’s rash gets sorted; you’ve been battling that for a while. Sigh. She looks adorable in her outfit and looks so old. I’ve been reading your blog since she was itty bitty and it’s genuinely hard to believe she’s so big!
Omg high school in a year?! That sounds crazy but I guess we will be there in 2 years as well. The answer might just be chronic Zyrtec but it would be awesome to dine something we could avoid …
Omg- the photo of G in her graduation cap saying “When I grow up I want to be a doctor” brought tears to my eyes!!! Yes, sometimes these transitions are bittersweet, but it’s so exciting too.
Since my kids are six years apart (why? WHY did we do that???) they never went to the same school. So I always had some combination of elementary/middle/high school drop offs, and of course all the schools have glaringly different start and end times. Every time someone would transition to a different school I’d be like “Okay, NOW how are we going to do this?” I’ll be interested to see how this affects your morning routine next year- but of course in the end it always works out.
A and G are 6 years apart too! Just have C in the middle. Yeah it’s absolutely going to mean an earlier leaving time in the morning by about 20 min. Thankfully the two schools are about 8 minutes apart … that does help a little. Some days we also may need to divide and conquer!
My oldest changed schools between 7th and 8th. We changed because his old school was doing away with the math class he wanted to take (um, didn’t know my kid was that serious about math until he asked to move). We went from a K-8 school to a true middle school, and it’s been such a wonderful move in ways we could not have anticipated. He was doing well, but now he’s thriving. Hoping you have a similar experience with A’s school move 🙂
we are definitely NOT moving for math acceleration lol (though in part because the new school I think will have better / more clear math teaching, but not advancement per se) but that is awesome that he knew what he wanted!!
Congrats to your three pumpkins and especially G for passing the Kindergarten milestone!
My daughter steadfastly refuses to even consider medicine based on her observations of my personal experiences throughout residency lol, even though she has been indoctrinated to medicine’s cultural norms since infancy and I think would have an easier time. She thinks she wants to be an engineer and work on designing rockets/aircraft, but then the other day she was asking me about some biology stuff. She also likes writing… so who knows!
I cannot imagine doing even one kid dropoff/pickup, frankly! This is a big reason we are sending her to the local public school which she rides the school bus to each day. She will have to take math at the HS in 8th grade and I literally have *no idea* how that will happen. We may have to do virtual.
I was rather surprised at G’s answer, and she’s only 6 so . . may not stick 🙂 C is interested in engineering. A says fashion design currently though also thought graphic design sounded cool but is concerned AI will erase all the jobs. Yeah, the 2 drop offs will not be ideal but since I’m flexible 2/5 days and Josh often has one later start (and one of the hospitals he staffs is right near both schools) we can all divide and conquer.
Congrats Genevieve! She sounds like a fierce little girl!
Ohhh an end of an era for sure! This will be L, too, next week. I love G’s dress, she looks so big! L wants to be a nail painting lady (her words) or an artist/illustrator (her words, too). I want her to be a teacher but no one is asking me lol