Well, here we are, at the end of the school year with my soon to be kindergartener! Tear tear! I must say the school year flew by for us, I probably spent most of it zombied out trying to figure out this mom of three thing. But I did it!! And so did our little man!! We are so proud of our little Sebastian bear. Preschool is, what we hope to be, the start of his never ending desire to learn and grow.

Sebastian started Thornydale’s preschool a month late (we were in Chicago giving birth to Rosie) but he seemed to have adjusted pretty well. He had three teachers, Ms. Joy, Ms. Shannon and Ms. Teresa. He instantly fell in love with Ms. Joy! I don’t think there was a single day where he didn’t run up to her and hug her! Ms. Shannon was “the mean one” (there’s one in every family HA) for the first few months but ultimately he started running to hug her too! Some days even his classmates started asking for hugs as they parted ways for the day! Yup, Sebastian bear is a hugger bear!

Throughout the year Sebastian had a handful of incidents, ranging from potty accidents to kissing milestones! Ahhhh yesss I said kissing!! He actually became very keen of one particular girl in class. For a while, all we heard him talk about was his new friend. One day, Ms. Joy tells us that he kissed her and had to explain to him kissing isn’t appropriate but may ask her for a hug instead! I stood there in shock, jaw to the floor kind of shock! I’m so not ready for that yet!

Another incident, that I’m not even sure if I should share, happened almost towards the end of the school year. Ms. Joy explained to us that during outside play Sebastian hid behind a play house they have outside and ummm intentionally had a boy potty accident! Like whaaatt?!! He’s never done that before so this was another jaw to the floor kind of moment! Yeah…we definitely had a serious conversation after this!

Overall, Sebastian had a very good school year. Homework is not his favorite thing to do and always required a bit of extra effort to get through it. He made it very clear to us that he hates rhyming. The first time they did it in school he made a pout face as he talked about it. We would randomly ask him if he did rhyming again and he would again pout as if relieved they didn’t do it that day. He does, however, love math and numbers (just like daddy) and is very good at it! He loves it when we quiz him with addition and subtraction. His favorite examples are “If you have two pom poms and Ms. Joy gives you two more pom poms, how many do you have?” His face is absolutely priceless once we tell him he’s correct. We’re definitely curious to see how all this translates as he grows!

On the last day of school, his class had a little presentation for the parents and wow! Sebastian did great singing the songs and even threw in some of his own moves and started dabbing! HA! So much cuteness! On top of the cuteness from all the little humans, there was also so much heartfelt emotion from his teachers, that I must say was very very touching. You see his teachers always felt like they put building relationships with their students as part of the lesson plan. They won the hearts of our tiny people and I most definitely saw this with Sebastian. On Monday’s, I would witness him sprint to Ms. Joy expressing genuine admiration, as if it’s been weeks since they seen each other. Some days he would forget to give ME my hug and kiss goodbye just to run and hug his teachers. Ms. Shannon would always notice and remind him not to leave me hanging.  So, when on the last day of school, we witnessed tears roll down the teachers’ faces – I too was overcome with emotion.

For kindergarten Sebastian will be going to a new school. Thornydale is closing due to low enrollment and even though it was only our first year there we are saddened by the news. Thornydale felt like a tight nip community where everyone knew each other; from the fun spirited principal, Mr. Singer, to the waves and smiles of our crossing guard Johnny. We will sure miss it but we are also excited for what’s ahead!

Sebastian is excited to go to kindergarten, mainly because he’s 5 now and lost two teeth this school year, so you know he’s practically 10. We’re so proud of him and all his little but mighty accomplishments thus far. Mom and dad wish you much academic success and are excited to guide you through it all, one school year at a time! Now time to enjoy our summer break and see what kind of shenanigans we can get ourselves into.

Love,

-Mama Bear Mimi-

Thornydale Elementary

Preschool

2018-2019

P.S.  I just have to let it be known that I’m also relieved to have graduated preschool! Yes, ME! I did it!! The thing is I was ohhh so exhausted all day errrday but still managed to do the whole drop off/pick up struggle with sweet baby Rosie AND firecracker Alex! I was so very grateful when hubs was off and able to pick up Sebastian. It was for sure a struggle getting there ON TIME everyday with three kids. There’s absolutely no shame in my game but most days, ok more like everyday, we all showed up in pjs, except Sebastian. HA! And all for our little Sebastian!