kindergarten (and its art) in the books

Well, it finally came. The much-anticipated final day of kindergarten EVER for this girl. We started quite the journey in August 2012 and then made a difficult decision last year to continue Leah's kindergarten journey for an additional year. I'm happy to say, at the end of that second year, it was the best decision for all involved. 

Leah has come such a long way and now I can say without hesitation that she is ready for 1st grade. 

We've been blessed with amazing teams in New Hampshire and Iowa. Sometimes when I think about how many people are on our side, pushing Leah to succeed and believing in her efforts and potential, I almost can't breathe. I often read about the fights that friends have to have to get extra services for their children and it makes me so sad because that hasn't been our path at all. 

We sent her off with an inadequate gift for each of the members of her personal team + our fabulous bus driver. And we also sent her off in her pajamas as they were having pajama day. I felt a tiny bit guilty as school doesn't officially end until next Tuesday (because of additional snow/cold days that were added on, blech), but we leave this weekend for Utah. 

As I was sifting through the drawer full of artwork that came home in her backpack this year, my eyes filled with tears. I am embarrassed to admit it, but there was a time not so long ago that I hated the artwork she brought home. I'd open up her backpack and sort through the piles of construction and printer paper each day and think, "None of this is yours. This is the work of someone else. I wish, just once, I could see an original work of art from LEAH."

I never said my thoughts out loud and I truly hope Leah never picked up on those feelings. Because eventually I grew some brains. 

I slowly started to realize that yes, these pieces of art were partially the work of an adult. Obviously. But how grateful am I for those adults! How grateful am I that she has someone to walk by her side each day. To ask her what color she'd like to use, what shape she'd like to add, what number comes next. To look into her beautiful blues and try to put on paper the thoughts that are in her head. 

We don't keep all the art at our house. For that to be possible, we'd have to build an addition onto our house. But, we keep our favorites and take pictures of every piece. And oh how grateful I am for each and every piece. 

Flashbacks to Leah's first days of Kindergarten take 1 and Kindergarten take 2.