You can't see the flowers she has in her hair, or the curls I put in, but she's still adorable.
I love Tessa’s preschool. Today they had their annual preschool prom, and the theme was, you guessed it, “Prom Before Time.” Now, I thought that meant you know, they’re way too young to be having a prom, so yeah, it’s before their time. But it was actually a take on the movie “Land Before Time.” Dinosaurs. Not forcing teenage rites-of-passage on pre-k kiddies.
All I could think of was a bunch of four year-olds planning post prom parties: “No, you totally look at least six – I bet you could get us some candy from Kwik Shop.” All the little ones lying to their parents about whose house they’d be staying at, when really they’d be hopping the fence at some park after hours so they could get some sandbox and slide action.
But I digress. Their preschool room was decorated with streamers, there was a place for pictures AND the girls got corsages and the boys got boutineers. Seriously – how cute is that? They did in fact have post-prom activities, which included making dinosaur “fossils” and Wilma Flintstone-esque “bone” necklaces.
Jack and I got to school early and watched as all the little girls, dressed in their fanciest dresses, twirled and danced to some Raffi-type version of “Walking on Sunshine” (total prom song!).The little boys had all taken off their ties and were throwing them around and kind of slam dancing with each other. A few girls were sitting on the “bleachers” crying. So I guess maybe it wasn’t before their time. It was exactly like my high school prom, only my daughter was having a good time.
Jack made his way out to the dance floor and was shaking his moneymaker with some blonde girl and ignoring all the other kids who were trying to cut in. He finally spotted Tessa and ditched the blonde to go be with his “T” (that’s what he calls Tess, “Sweet T”). It was glorious.
One of the teachers came up to me to tell me how proud she was of Tess. There’s a little boy in the class who has some developmental issues. He didn’t speak at the beginning of the year and he mainly associates with his teacher. Interacting with the other kids is very hard for him, but he’s taken a shine to my girl. She’s the only one he will sit near and I believe he’s even said “bye” to her. The teacher said he’s up to about five words now.
When the promsters (prommers? promenaders?) paraded through the school to show off their Sunday best, this little boy walked over to Tess and held her hand during the parade. The teacher said she is always very patient with him and very kind. When it came time to have prom pictures taken, the little boy walked up to Tess and they had their picture taken together. The teacher said he had a very big grin on his face. Tess has always been so mature for her age and kind hearted, it doesn’t surprise me at all. What surprises me is that she came from my womb.
So there you have it. Preschool Prom. Graduation is on May 19th. We’re going to have the biggest Kool-Aid kegger you’ve ever seen.
I wasn’t sure if you saw my comment about this post on the main website but this post brought tears to my eyes. Your daughter is a very special girl and don’t sell yourself so short or the womb that produced that child. You’ve alwasy been a wonderful person. Can’t wait to hear how the kegger went
Comment by Erin Farmer — April 28, 2010 @ 9:25 pm
You’re so kind. I didn’t get your other comment, but this one will do just fine! I’ll let you know how the kegger goes!
Comment by jen — April 29, 2010 @ 8:59 am