Everyone posts about their kid’s first day in Primary One but no one posts about his child’s last day in kindergarten.
Until Sensei comes along as well.
“Mixed feelings” doesn’t begin to cut it. Moments like this make me happy to be Chinese. Because 百感交集 epitomizes this moment.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m more than happy for my child to grow up and enter Primary One so that I can reclaim some semblance of my freedom (and dreams). I long for the day in which I can travel alone again, making random connections and acquiring insights about the vicissitudes of life. (When I was married, I still managed to travel alone sometimes hahaha.)
But…
Knowing that this would be the last time my son would be wearing his Sparkletots uniform made me melancholy. It was the end of an era.
I would never get back this stage of him. This finality is brutal and why isn’t there enough time for me to come to terms with it?
I did the only thing I could. I took a photo of him in his kindergarten uniform in front of the entrance for remembrance’s sake.
I had this feeling before my daughter’s last birthday. We talked about it being the last day that she would be a five year old.
It’s a good reminder to be present because you only get to do each of these things once.
That’s a really good reminder. On the last day of this year, I will process my son’s feelings of loss and excitement with him. If I’m feeling melancholy, he must be feeling double triple the intensity
This is a beautiful stage of life. I remember how much fun my daughter had in preschool. Art, games, recreational activities, among other great things. All of that died when she moved on to elementary school. Elementary school is the death of creativity and fun for children. No matter what continent you live on, elementary school only does one thing for our children: prepare them to be employees, not prepare them for life itself. I still remember her face on the first day of elementary school. She was sad to see that her classroom was no longer decorated with drawings or crafts made by the students. In her own words, "The classroom is monochromatic, there are no drawings or colors, it looks boring." That caused me great sadness, seeing her disappointment at leaving behind a fun time and starting a new stage where only 25% of what she's taught will actually be useful for developing her skills and her life.
This hits hard because I am an elementary school teacher haha. Oh the pressure to prepare kids for a high-stakes exam.
I guess it’s up to us to preserve the fun for our kiddos
Is Bitcoin the remaining 75%?