Today’s post might be a little disjointed and all over the place, but I have so many thoughts to preserve about this time in our lives, so just stick with me, okay?
It’s hard to believe that elementary school is officially over for Ella, but believe it or not, it happened! She’s been talking about this day for years and was so excited (and maybe a little bit nervous) to wake up on graduation day.
Because of the way her birthday falls, she’s almost an entire year older than some of the kids in her class. We didn’t have the option of starting early for her and, at the time, I had no idea how this would affect her down the road. I’m guessing it will be a little easier to navigate in middle and high school, since we can better tailor her classes to her interests and intellect, but the last few years of elementary school have been hard. We have had wonderful teachers, who have worked hard with us and for us, and yet we still struggled to stay engaged and excited about school every day. Part of her problem is that she doesn’t understand the need for repetition (she gets that almost photographic memory from her daddy) and the other part is that because of her personality and temperament, she feels a year older than she is. I’m not kidding you when I say, that since the end of third grade, every school-related sentence began with “when I get to middle school…” and I’m kind of glad we’re there so we can stop talking about it already.
Every parent approaches growing children in a different way and there isn’t a good, better, or best way to do it. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you that I’m not particularly sentimental and the sadness that comes with growing children hasn’t ever been something I struggled with. Greeting each new phase of childhood is different and they bring unique challenges of their own. I did love having babies (I guess it’s a good thing, since I’m about to do it again!), but I also loved toddlers and preschoolers and having big kids is a completely different kind of awesome.
I can’t get over how much Ella has grown up in the last year. We were comparing photos from last summer and it’s hard to believe this is even the same girl. Everything about her looks different — more polished and refined — and yet exactly the same. She has really come into her own style and is very opinionated about how she dresses and styles her hair — I can’t count the number of times she’s gotten up before dark (today included, despite summer break!), so that I could braid or straighten her hair for much later in the day. She is so smart and it is amazing to be able to have complicated and nuanced conversations with her about all sorts of topics. I vividly remember one of the first times we went to lunch, one on one, after she was old enough to have a real conversation. It was so cool to not need an adult on our excursion and those moments have only gotten better, and more fun, as she’s grown.
We butt heads a lot and Josh swears it’s because we are the same person. We are loud and opinionated and uncensored. We speak before thinking and we rarely consider the consequences of our words or actions. We’re difficult people to live with — he and Sophie are absolute saints for dealing with that personality times two. It makes discipline tricky sometimes because I either completely agree with where she’s coming from, even if she’s way out of line, or I’m irrationally angry at her for fighting me in the one way I can’t defend. We’re still learning to navigate these big girl years and as exhausting as they are, I’m looking forward to them.
She’s known for more than a year that we would buy her a phone before middle school. It hasn’t made sense for her to have one yet (even though our pediatrician actually recommended it for fifth grade), since she’s never in a place she can’t reach us. Sixth grade seems like a reasonable time to offer her some independence and responsibility, but we have been toying with letting her have it to enjoy over the summer. After a much less expensive data plan than I expected, we decided to surprise her with it as a graduation gift before school last Tuesday morning. Guys, say what you will about technology being the devil, but no matter how much attitude your kid is sporting, handing them a gift wrapped iPhone will make you the greatest parent ever – ha!
I’ll admit to being nervous about the reach of technology and we are working hard to combat lies that our children hear from their peers and on the internet. I’m not convinced we’re doing it right, but we are being very mindful of how much control we give her and are doing the very best we can. We’ve granted a few social media leniencies, but for the most part we’re keeping her on a very short leash. I can monitor her accounts from my own device and we have strict rules about who she can follow and be followed by. We’ve also implemented a telephone bedtime and it has to charge in our room overnight and when not in use. This isn’t a perfect plan, but it’s helping us all adjust to this new found freedom. I picked up a great book about kids and technology this week, so maybe I’ll pop back in in another month and update you on how things are going!
I got some great photos of Ella’s celebration ceremony, but there are school banners and children that don’t belong to me, so I’ll save those for her instead of sharing them here. We had a great vantage point to see her walk in and she was glowing as she received her diploma and other certificates. We got to spend a few minutes with her before she returned back to class and had so much fun snapping photos together and loving on some of her sweet friends. Here are a few photos I can share — just look at that happy smile!
I was lucky that her celebration day happened to be on a work-from-home day for me. I spent a lot of time driving back and forth between school and home so that I could work, but I loved getting to see her celebrate with her friends throughout the day. The fifth grade had a huge party after graduation and got to change into their ‘Class of 2025’ t-shirts before it began. I had to do a little Photoshop action in the next few photos, so ignore any blurry spots you might see!
I love this photo of she and Angela, so much. Not only was she a great teacher for us both this year, but she’s been a fellow dance mom since Ella was barely three years old. Ella has danced with her daughter for the last nine years and she has taken such good care of her at school, too. Ella failed miserably at calling her “Mrs. Mitchell,” but fortunately she got a pass on that! We’ll be sad that they aren’t at the same school anymore, but will still see her at least three days a weeks since we live together in the dance studio parking lot. She wasn’t Ella’s only teacher this year, but I never caught her and her homeroom teacher in the same room all day!
After an ice cream party in the gym, Ella and Ms. Kerry — her classroom aid — decided to serenade the entire fifth grade class with I Will Always Love You. Lest you think we have an amazing singing voice, let me tell you that we know for sure that dancing is our strong suit! Fortunately, this girl doesn’t have a timid bone in her body and didn’t think twice about singing — out of tune — at the top of her lungs. She has such a great sense of humor and it is so hard to capture a genuine smile or laugh from her, but I think this photo does a pretty great job of showing just how much fun she is.
We have had such a wonderful journey at our elementary school and, as excited as we all are to start a new journey, it will feel very weird not having her there (and even weirder to have an infant, an elementary schooler and a middle schooler?!). She’s already working on summer reading assignments for next year, she has big plans for her middle school wardrobe, and we’re looking forward to Sixth Grade Camp over the summer (our school offers a half day camp to get new students acclimated with the campus, lockers, and classroom schedules). Happy Graduation, Ella!
And, of course, I couldn’t go to the elementary school twice in one day without visiting this little nugget! She joined us for the celebration ceremony and was super proud of her big sister. I stopped by her classroom after Ella’s party and they were enjoying a taco bar and movies to celebrate the end of the year. I took a few photos, but the lights in her classroom were out, so this is the only one I got worth sharing. These two sweet girls have been her very best friends this year and we have been so lucky to have them and their parents in our lives. We just decided, this week, to be pen pals for the summer and pass around a progressive story that the girls can build on. Sophie has already asked me one thousand times when her first letter would arrive and we only swapped addresses a few days ago. It might be a long summer around here…
