So somewhere within this last month we made a huge mistake. We told all of the boys' teachers that Tuesday would be their last day. Tuesday, what we were thinking was the end of the month. Not so much. I finally pieced it all together on Saturday when I saw an International House of Pancakes commercial for National Pancake Day, which happened to be on TUESDAY, March 1st. I'm the kind of crazy that just for a split second wondered if it were possible that a date error got past an entire large corporation, marketing company, and editors. And then reality sunk in. And then the panic. I seriously stressed out over this for the remainder of the weekend due to the fact that having my babies attend their last day of school was making me an emotional basket case.
So this morning, before we took the boys to their classrooms, we stopped at the front desk to see if by any small chance they had the room and kind hearts to let us have Tuesday as our real, official last day. They quickly noted that that was fine. Going into this, I knew that there are state laws that require a 4:1 student to teacher ratio. And also, knowing what a fantastic school the boys were in, that there is a massive waiting list. Naturally, I was worried that the replacement kids were starting their enrollment on the 1st. And rightfully so. Except that Kevin and I are complete morons.
All was right with the world, things were working out in our favor. We dropped off the boys, I headed home to get some things together and have some breakfast and then went to Target for some nice thank you cards for the teachers. I was finishing my purchases and on the phone with Kevin when school called. Brennan had thrown up. Not once but twice. He didn't have a fever and was feeling and acting completely normal, but because their policy is that if a kid throws up more than once they need to be sent home, they asked me to come and pick him up.
I get to school, pick him up, make Carter angry because I didn't take him with me and proceed to have a discussion with Miss Michelle about what kind of cupcakes and how many to buy for the twins' going away party tomorrow. We leave, we go to the grocery store. I was just finishing up with finding my items and heading to the front of the store to be checked out when I get a call from Kevin. He had just got off the phone with Mr. Kyle who regretfully informed him that indeed the ratios would be off tomorrow and that the twins last day was again officially today. Evan was somehow spared and is able to return to school tomorrow for a proper send off.
Instant sadness, seriously. I almost cried right there in the middle of Dierberg's. It isn't the end of the world, but I wasn't prepared for an "ending" like this and it caught me completely off guard emotionally. I went back to the bakery section and put the cupcakes back onto the shelf and was near losing it the entire time. We went back home and I put Brennan down for a nap.
Later that afternoon I met up with Kevin to go pick up Carter and Evan. The twins' teachers were also not expecting things to happen so quickly. They had to get everything together, including their memory binders together with final entries, in just an hour or two. They were pretty crushed by it too. There is just something so incredibly sad about packing up the diapers, extra clothes, bed linens, and artwork knowing you're never coming back or that you won't really see these people again. There were tears a plenty as I tried my best to fight them back. We took a few pictures of the boys with each teacher. Technically we'll get to see them again tomorrow when we drop off and pick Evan up, but we said our formal goodbyes today.
It's so strange, this is the first chapter in any of my kids' lives that we are closing. And to have to do it for all three of them at the same time is just awful. I feel like we're moving far away, forcing them to leave all of their little friends and start over. I know that 18 month old kids don't really have friends at this age, but that doesn't make it any less traumatic for me.
Tomorrow's going to be a rough day because Evan DOES have friends, and in all likelihood he'll probably never see any of them again. Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking.
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