As we roll into June and the weather warms up our family finds ourselves closing in on a major transition in our son’s life. The end of this school year will conclude his time as a fourth-grader and also as an elementary school student. In our school district, middle school begins in the fifth grade.
It’s an exciting and also bittersweet time for me, personally, because I’ve grown to love his elementary school.
The staff there has done so much for him with his various special needs, and many of the teachers have come to know me over the years. I’ve been lucky enough to chaperone a few field trips and volunteer at every Field Day. I’m going to miss the people who work there.
My son also likes to hang out after school and play in the fields and playgrounds around the school, which has provided me the opportunities to get to know several parents. These are friendships I wouldn’t have otherwise formed and I’ve come to value the socializing I get to do after spending my days otherwise alone with my cats working on comics.
I am not, however, going to miss the parking lot of the elementary school. The parents who drive through it go insane once they’re behind the wheel of their cars.
The middle school he’ll be attending doesn’t provide any opportunities for after-school shenanigans or parents to linger. The drop-off and pickup procedures are very strict and outside of after-school programs and activities there’s no “playing in the field” to be done. So not only will Leto be losing his daily field playtime with his friends, I’ll be losing the opportunity to socialize with fellow parents.
In these last weeks of the fourth grade I’ll be soaking in as much of the elementary school’s experience as I can. I’m going to miss that place, too.