NEW ADVENTURES

This year 2 of our daughters was graduating. One from grade 9 and the other from grade 6.

(In Alberta the standard is - Elementary K-6, Junior High 7-9, and High School 10-12)

Because of Covid, our youngest is the only one of our kids to have a grade 6 grad - at all. The other three sadly missed out.

Maybe it’s because she’s our youngest or because I didn’t already go through a grade 6 grad, but I was a mess. This is it. The end of elementary school. My babies are growing up.

As parents, there’s a connection to an elementary school. If you’ve had more than one child go through that school, then you’ve been invested in that one place for several years. You might not be a fan of all the teachers but there are usually those one or two who stand out as a favourite. In our case, it was a teacher who taught both my girls. She went above and beyond the call of duty and I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for her. As I said goodbye to her at Evynne’s grad this year, it was with tears in my eyes. (Mike would say that doesn’t mean much because I often have tears in my eyes, but it was an emotional moment. How’s that?)

Junior High is a different experience. These are the years that your kids develop relationships with their teachers mostly without parents involved. And that’s the way it should be. Kids need to learn how to function in the world, on their own, without you. As our daughter, Tori was leaving grade 9 behind this year, she was the one with tears in her eyes while saying goodbye to teachers that helped shape her Junior High experience. Appropriately she learned to advocate for herself over the last few years. As she moves on to High School in the fall it’s not all hands-off for us parents but she’s truly embarking on her next big adventure. Three short years and she’ll be done grade school.

While our children embark on their next big adventure, I love to see them grow, learn and develop new skills, but it’s all happening so fast.

We’ll have two grads again next year as it’s the last year of Junior High for our other two daughters. I know it will feel like we blinked and we’re here again, but I for one am going to enjoy each day as it comes. Going through these experiences with them is a whole new adventure for me too!

Shannon, The Herdmother