No cap and gown picture for Mommy.

Yesterday, Peter "graduated" from preschool. I had to send in one of Dan's white dress shirts which was going to be put on backwards and worn as a gown and the teachers made mortarboads out of bowls and poster board.

My husband left work to be there and as we settled into our tiny little seats with our cameras, I got a lump in my throat.

And all of the typical preschool graduation thoughts flooded into my mind. My baby will be going to Kindergarten soon. I can't wait to see him in his "cap and gown"! What are we going to do all summer?

Then his class began to parade into the classroom and I caught my breath at the site of the first student. The backwards shirt and homemade mortarboards looked so cute! I couldn't wait to see Peter in his.

As the class filed into the room,I had my camera poised and my breath held, waiting for my son.

My husband saw him before I did and all I heard was him say dejectedly, "Oh, Peter."

I finally caught site of Peter and realized why my husband sounded upset. Peter was the last student to come in and he wasn't wearing his "cap and gown".

When he came in the room, he left the line and came running over to me. I guess he wanted a hug and reassureance that it was okay that he wasn't wearing his "cap and gown". Instead he got me hissing in his ear, "Get over there with your class and say the Pledge of Allegiance."

He reluctantly stood with them for the Pledge of Allegiance but when they started singing the Copy Cat song, Peter hid his face. And when they started to perform another song, he came over and hid beside me.

I was disappointed. I wasn't going to get my cute graduation pictures and I imagined all the clucking the other parents were doing. They were probably all thinking that he's not ready for Kindergarten.

I wanted to stand up and scream "He's smart! He really is. He's just shy! He made 100 on his Kindergarten readiness test."

But of course, I couldn't tell them any of that because they wouldn't have believed me anyway. I just sat there in my tiny little seat, feeling sorry for myself.

Later after school, as we were eating our lunch, Peter told me he didn't want the other kids to laugh at him. That makes no sense since all the other kids were wearing the same goofy outfits and singing the same goofy songs.

Perhaps he meant to say he didn't want to feel silly or look stupid. Whatever the case, I wish I had been a little more supportive when he first walked into the classroom.

After the initial annoyance that he wasn't wearing his cap and gown wore off and as I began to realize that I really didn't care what any of the other parents thought, I took lots of graduation pictures. He may not be wearing his cap and gown and he may not be participating. But that's o.k.

I still think he's the smartest little boy in the world. I'm just going to have to wait a few years for the cap and gown picture!Not wanting to perform during the Copy Cat song.
Hiding from the class during the Copy Cat Song.
Looking away as the class performs another song.
At least he accepted his diploma. (He was fine as long as the class wasn't performing. I guess he won't be an actor, a standup comedian, or a public speaker when he grows up. But that's o.k. because if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you he wants to be a Lego set designer. )