I Almost Made It Without Crying......

As far as girls go, I consider myself to be on the lower-end of the emotional totem pole.  There are only a handful of movies and books that have choked me up (I have sisters who will cry at dunkin donuts commercials), and I hardly ever display sappiness in public. I didn't cry when Alex proposed, nor did I cry on my wedding day. There is nothing against those who do, I am just one of those folks that prefers to save my crying episodes for a dark, quiet room when I am sitting by myself. However, one thing that does have the capability of breaking through my self-proclaimed-emotionally-thick skin is an ending.  I get sad whenever a holiday is over (whether it be 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas, etc).  I sulked on my last day at Stop & Shop (even though I wanted nothing more than to quit for years prior). I didn't rejoice at the end of each school year. Even listening to slow, orchestral music at the end of some otherwise funny movies can strike that sulky chord for me (seriously...even the end of the Santa Claus movie can do it!!).  That's why I knew today was going to be tough.

In the next couple of months my office will be moving to a location where it will be impractical for me to continue to drop-off/pick-up Hunter from his current daycare program.  So when we were told there was an opening at a facility close to our house, it just made the most sense to move him while we had the opportunity.  We have been with The Magical Years since Hunter was 6 months old, and Alex and I both firmly believe that they have had an equal share in raising Hunter into the smart, happy, well-mannered little boy that he is.  Not only have they provided the care for him during the day, but they have also guided Alex and I as we developed from the new parents of an infant to experienced parents of toddlers.  As a working mom, it was certainly not the easiest thing having to drop my baby boy off to folks that I hardly knew on that first day, but by the end of that day we knew we were at the right place and that he was in great hands.

Throughout the past couple of years, Hunter has formed strong bonds, not only with his peers, but with his teachers as well.  The staff knows him and his personality and quirks just as well as I do. When he is at home and does or says something new and we ask where he learned it, the answer is usually "Ms. Kerry showed me that" or "Ms. Shanna told me that".  In fact, he credits Ms. Allison with finally getting him to accept that his first name is actually Gordon and not Hunter (he refused to believe it when I tried to tell him).   We often can only get him out of bed by reminding him he will get to play with Lilyana or Jackson or Declan.

I know that Hunter would be leaving there eventually to go to kindergarten anyway, and I know that he will make new friends at his new school and that his new teachers will probably be just as awesome.  But that doesn't make saying goodbye any easier.  I was almost able to walk away without tears, but when Ms. Shanna embraced him the biggest, most loving hug...one that represented that which you would give to a family member...I just couldn't hold back any more, and out came the tears.  I know that he truly loves those girls and that they love him back just as much, and I feel awful for having to break the ties with them.  We do plan on visiting, and I did leave my contact info in case any of the parents want to do play dates, but it just won't be the same.

Geesh, and this is only daycare....can't wait to see how I handle him graduating out kindergarten!!

Long story long, I am truly grateful to everyone at The Magical Years, and we were so blessed that they were such a big part of our journey over the last two years.

with Ms JoJo

with Ms Shanna

with Declan {aka Ducky Do}

with Lilyanna and Declan

with Ms. Allison

with Lilyanna, Dylan, Ms. Mary, and Declan

Hunter's going away gift, a shirt with hand prints from all of his friends

And they made him a personalized yearbook for him to remember all of his buddies with...so glad we didn't open this until we got home, it would have been tough to drive with all the tears that shed over this one  (yikes, I really am a sap now, aren't I)