Last Day

Today is the last day of school here in Tiny Town. Oh Emm Gee, that did not come fast enough, especially in light of Anxiousgate 2010. But we made it! I am so looking forward to peaceful mornings with Kate, instead of tears and woe, tears and woe.

Here's what we did for teacher's gifts this year (inspired by Joy Unexpected's teacher gift):

Each of the girls' classroom teachers got a pot of begonias (um? I think?) with two little plant markers in them. The girls wanted to paint the pots, but I didn't come up with an option that wouldn't wash off if the pot got wet. And besides, this way, the pots are reusable.

The plant markers are little rectangles of wood that I got at Hobby Lobby (4/pack for $1.99, I think). The girls painted them, and then I added their photo (mounted on card stock) (ha, ha, "mounted" sounds all fancy... how does "glue-sticked" sound?) . I let them write the little note, though I was tempted to do it myself. (You know, CONTROL, and letting go of it.) Then I taped a colored wooden stick to the back and stuck them in the dirt. Easy-peasy.

I like how they turned out. They meet the Teacher Gift Criteria of being a) reusable b) homemade; original, and c) not something the teacher has to keep around for years to come (read: apple themed knick-knacks). Typically, I like to give something consumable, and I guess you "consume" flowers by enjoying them, and- unlike a houseplant- you can get rid of them after a season.

Of course, the girls also insisted on making our usual teacher gift of note cards. They love making them, and above any other gift we've given, these are the best received (cute! original! consumable!). They made one set for their classroom teachers and one for the teacher's aide.

I think teacher's gifts are the hardest to get right. I mean, how do you really thank someone for nurturing and teaching your kid for 7 hours a day for the past 9 months? Are there even words for that? I feel like I could spend my summer weeding their gardens and cooking their dinners and serving them iced cold pitcher of mojitos, and it STILL wouldn't be enough.

And then throw a kid like Kate into the mix- a kid whose teacher has sent countless emails to me and on her behalf, who has comforted her and joked with her and made her feel happy and safe, who has racked her brain and gone out of her way on several occasions to come up with a solution. In short, a teacher who has taken a personal interest in helping my kid.

How do you say thanks for that?

(Spoiler alert: I have NO EFFING CLUE.)

So anyway... the last day of 1st grade. (Last day of Kindergarten here.)

Don't you love how Kate (in green) has a worried look on her face, even NOW, on the LAST DAY?

Tomorrow morning, I am going to sit on my sunny porch with the girls, and I am going to watch Kate happily devour her breakfast, and then I am going to take the girls strawberry picking.

Oh, man, we made it, you guys!