Conor's Last Day of Day Care

Today marked a big day for our family... it is Conor's last day at day care! His next educational step is joining his big sister at her school!

We started at the day care when Annika was just 3 months old. We've seen quite a few teachers come and go over the past 5 1/2 years, and are so grateful for the wonderful care they provided to our children. Some have even become babysitters for us, ta boot!

To mark his "graduation" and to say a proper thank you to the teachers and staff at the day care, we made a little going away present. Because there are so many teachers, individual presents simply wasn't going to happen. Instead, we (aka I) decided on a classroom present: a painted terra cotta pot with a leafy plant. After I painted the pot with white primer, we decorated it with colorful flowers made with Conor's fingerprints; not to be left out, Annika did one of the flowers, too! After the flowers were in place, I painted "Thank you for helping me grow" on the pot. The last step was applying some clear sealer to the pot so everything stayed put! I think it turned out quite cute and believe it will be a nice addition to Conor's (almost former) classroom.

I don't think Conor really grasps the concept that he's moving on after today, but it'll sink in soon enough. I think having his big sister in the new classroom with him over the summer will really help his transition from day care to pre-school. This morning, Annika said that she'll be Conor's teacher once he joins her at her school. I quickly pointed out that she can be a helper, but the teachers will be his teachers. She seemed OK with that, too. Whew! :)

As I returned to my car after dropping off Conor, I realized how funny it is that as a parent, I want our kids with us forever, but as parents, our real job is to prepare our kids to leave us and become independent beings. Before we turn around twice, we're going to be dropping this little boy off at his college dorm... pardon me while I wipe a few tears away from my eyes now. (sniff sniff)

Our big boy on his last day of day care

Thank you to all of the Whizz Kids teachers; we'll miss you!

Back of flower pot