Sam Graduates from Preschool

(Lisa reporting)
Before I became a parent, I thought that preschool graduations were silly. I didn't see the point in having what I considered to be a serious and important ceremony to mark a seemingly minor event in a child's life. In fact, when I heard that some preschools allowed the "graduates" to wear mortarboards as they marched to "Pomp and Circumstance," I was floored.


But my outlook completely changed when Samantha (aka Sherbert) came into my life. As I witnessed her many developmental changes, I realized that preschool graduation ceremonies weren't silly at all. David and I had seen firsthand Sam's evolution in preschool—from a shy, clingy child to a friendly, confident young lady.

As I long suspected, Sam's final year at preschool flew by. With a mixture of sadness and joy, I sat in the sanctuary of our synagogue, watching and listening as Sam and her friends filed in one by one to "Pomp and Circumstance." Samantha looked radiant and beautiful. Up on stage, facing an audience that contained many unfamiliar faces, Samantha remained fairly calm—occasionally fidgeting with the straps of her dress, which puffed up a bit as she sat because the dress was a little big on her whippet-thin frame.

I wasn't prepared to cry at the event because there were many happy, proud moments—such as when Sam and her pals sang and danced several times. But when our rabbi's wife, Morah Silvana (who is also the preschool's Israeli dance teacher), talked with great emotion about her amazement at how quickly her daughter Lara (a graduate that night) had grown up at school, I cried. I felt like I was losing my grasp on time—I knew that kindergarten would mark a significant change and milestone in Sam's life. I also knew that once Sam moved to kindergarten—which was less than three months away—she would begin a life that was truly separate from her life at home. No longer would I be able to hang out with my little girl in her classroom, watching her interact with her friends and/or do art projects. Her school experience would now have a lot of structure. I found myself briefly worrying about how Samantha—an extremely affectionate, loving child—would fare in a classroom of 20+ students, after spending the last school year in a class of 8 students.

But when the ceremony ended, all I could do was hug and kiss Sam, and tell her how proud I was of her. And as our family walked the school's hallways to admire the many art pieces that Sam and her friends had created throughout the school year, I felt a tremendous amount of joy. I was also reminded of the first visit that David and I made to the preschool with Sam—back in October 2006. We knew right away that we wanted Sam to go to the school because of the close-knit, warm, loving environment. Moving to San Antonio, and enrolling Samantha in Heintz Preschool, were two of the best decisions we ever made.