Preschool graduation, virtual graduation, class of 2020, pre k

Mamas, we made it!

For many of us, the school year has come to an end or will be ending soon and what a year it has been. Who would’ve thought at the beginning of the school year, we would be spending the last 3+ months in virtual school / distance learning, due to a global pandemic?!?

It has been a wild ride to say the least, but we survived!

I can only speak for myself, but maybe you can relate… We started out strong with distance learning. We made sure Jayden completed his daily assignments, we added in a lot of our own and most importantly we had fun with it. But somewhere along the way, we/I lost steam and started relying a lot of screen-time for our daily lessons. Prior to covid, I had a strict no iPads at home rule… now, we pull out the iPads almost daily, but I’ve learned not to beat myself up about it either. We are all doing our best with what we have.

My husband has been working from home since the first week of March. I’ve always worked from home, but with all of the changes, I haven’t been able to work nearly as much... It’s been hard, but we did it – all within the confines of a 1,000 sq ft apartment, right outside of the epicenter, with a 4yr old and 3yr old. Lots of tears were shed the last few months, but so many great memories were made, that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

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Today, Jayden graduated from preschool and I still haven’t fully accepted that my baby will be going Kindergarten (God willing) this Fall. While I worry that he’s not fully ready academically, Jayden’s teacher assures me that he is. Luckily, Jayden is more than ready emotionally for Kindergarten and I’m told that’s what matters most. These past 3+ months have been hard on all of us and I worry about the psychological effects our kids will have to deal with, because of this pandemic – but I can’t control that. What I can control is how much love and joy in poured into my boys and so that is what I try to focus on.

Today, we celebrated Jayden, along side his classmates and teachers – virtually of course. Jayden’s teacher made an incredible video montage of the school year and there wasn’t a dry eye amongst the adults. It truly takes a special person to be a teacher and we got so lucky this year. While our time was cut short together, I will always look back on Jayden’s first full year in school with the fondest memories and great appreciation.