Call me a
scrooge, but as a society, we may be over-celebrating our kids' tiniest
achievements This past week I watched my 6 year old "graduate"
from Kindergarten. It's really not that hard to count to 100, stand in
line, and learn your ABC's is it? Yet, for $50 I got to view my littlest in a
cute blue graduation cap and gown (we only got to keep the tassel) and listen
to them sing "I wanna be a part of it, 1st grade, 1st grade" to the
tune of New York, New York (sorry, now that song's gonna be stuck in your
head). Are our hopes so low that we have to get photos of our kids in a
graduation cap and gown after Kindergarten, 6th grade and 8th grade, just in
case they don't make it to their high school graduation.
You'd
think people were trying to catch a glimpse of Tom Cruise the way they pushed
their way to the front to get a picture of their "graduate". My
husband politely asked a lady if she could sit down because she was blocking
everyone's view, let's just say she didn't oblige. One family in front of
us literally stood the entire time blocking everyone's views. It was about to get MMA in there! I'm not sure I
have high hopes for the graduates based on their parents' behavior, but then
again it was KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION and that only happens ONCE in a lifetime.
So does first grade, but now I digress…
There
were about 60 kindergartners at my son's graduation. Each kid was asked
what they wanted to be when they grew up. Over half the boys said,
"I wanna be a cop!" Not sure they're watching the news lately.
Half the girls said, "I wanna be a teacher." The most
creative responses were, a pizza man, an ice cream man (hello Ben and Jerry's)
and one little girl said, "Marine Biologist." (I believed her).
My son, donning a Superman cape over his cap and gown, proudly walked up
the center aisle and declared, "When I grow up, I'm gonna be
Superman." The PE teacher approached me afterward to let me know
that Superman wasn't too far off from what he might end up being. He was
the only one who mentioned wanting to be a superhero. Let's just say I
may have screamed my head off in pride!
The after
party was just as fun. Parents came bearing gifts of candy leis and gift
bags full of fun stuff. My son asked where his gift was. I said,
"It's Kindergarten graduation, get through High School, then we'll
talk." Ok, I didn't say that,
but I definitely thought it. I'm not sure what the fail rate is for
Kindergarten, but I'm not sure it's as high as our dropout rate for high
school. Despite all the fan-fare, Kindergarten is now over, summer has begun
and I'm teaching him that not everything someone does is deserving of a cap and
gown, gifts, and trophies. Jumping a bike is definitely worth videoing it
in slo-mo, reading a book is worth a hug, finishing dinner is worth a cookie, and
going a full day without throwing a rock at your sister's head, deserves a
half-hour of screen time! (yes these are actual events) We need to celebrate our kids for who they are every day in small ways, rather than over-celebrate mediocre achievements with big events. I know, it was KINDERGARTEN!!!
