Movin’ on up

Wow, it seems just like yesterday that The Boy was headed off to his first day of kindergarten, but now he’s done with it and headed off into the excitement of numbered grades. Only twelve more years to go until he picks up that high school diploma in the spring of 2021.

Despite all of the disdain that the little kindergarten graduation ceremony seemed to generate both here and with some people I talked to on Friday, it actually wasn’t that bad. They said a few lines, sang a few songs, walked across the stage while people clapped for them and had cookies afterward. The whole thing lasted maybe 30 minutes, the bulk of which was waiting while they moved six classes of kindergartners around. There were plenty of parents with cameras there and everyone seemed to have a good time.

I don’t really see it as minimizing the importance of future graduations or falsely rewarding them for something they haven’t actually earned. The fact is that these kids have earned it and I’d be willing to guess that for nearly almost all of them, it’s the biggest thing they’ve achieved so far. These kids are all excited about going back to school in the fall and I think that’s the important thing.

I could tell that The Boy was proud of his achievement. Not only did we have to take a picture of him with his kindergarten diploma, but also with his report card and attendance certificate as well. And he had to mention that he was now a first-grader about once every thirty seconds all weekend long. We celebrated by renting “The Price is Right” for his Wii. The Girl got nothing.

Here’s a short video of The Boy’s speaking role and the riveting music number that followed:

I think I can hear PBS and Fred Rogers’ estate calling right now with a lawsuit on that one.

And just because I can, here’s a clip showing the kid who fell off the riser during the second verse:

The Boy was laughing all weekend about that. I’ll admit that I got a few chuckles out of it too.

Fries at the bottom of the bag

• Our back yard guest is still kicking.
• Chocolate chip cookies are still a big hit at our house. Dog kisses, not so much.
• The Girl will brush her own teeth, thank you very much.
• She’ll also decide what you watch on the television.
• If you need to preserve guacamole, The Wife’s got you covered.
• Had a good weekend overall. Saturday was spent with visitors from both sides of the family and Sunday was dedicated mostly to our once-a-month massive grocery shopping excursion.
• Despite the fact we’re about 130 miles inland and didn’t get any measurable rain from Ike last year, our local TV station is still publishing a hurricane tracking guide. This makes me wonder, does anyone actually still use a paper hurricane tracking guide nowadays?
• May is finally in the books, so here’s the picture gallery.