One Kindergarten Year Down

If you're like me, you know your children fairly well. So, as they approach new and amazing milestones in their lives, you can pretty much guess how they'll react and handle things.
Well, my daughter just "graduated" from kindergarten. I put it in quotes for my husband, who thinks it's ridiculous to have a ceremony for kids who will literally be across the hall the next year.
Anyway.
​As I was saying, my daughter just wrapped up kindergarten. And I honestly wasn't sure how she'd handle everything.

Why?
She rocked preschool. Loved it with a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm.
And she was very excited to be in kindergarten, too.
But COVID made things a little different. I couldn't actually walk my child into the classroom. I couldn't be there for things as much, not only because we weren't allowed in the school, but because I still had her little brother at home, too. And scheduling didn't always work out.
And we've discovered that when she is faced with something new or different, it takes her a bit to believe she can do it. First, she needs to stress about it and worry for a while. Then, once she starts to get the hang of the concept, she takes off like a rocket.
For instance, she hated sight words at the beginning of the year. Didn't think she'd ever learn them. Well, she did conquer all her pre-k sight words before Christmas. Then, this second semester, she tackled the kindergarten ones. And the first, second, and third grade ones within a matter of weeks. She went from knowing about five words to being able to read several books to herself and reading our nightly Bible story each evening.
She's gotten out of her comfort zone and made some new friends. She's overcome the monkey bars. She can do quite a few other things for herself she hadn't figured out at the beginning of the year. And she's gained some confidence.
First grade, we'll have to start all over convincing her that she really can do the new things. But I know she'll be okay.
So, one child done with kindergarten.
How am I doing? Well, I'm actually okay, although it's a bit hard for me to believe she's old enough to be getting ready for her second year of elementary school. I can't imagine how all those mamas out there are feeling whose birds are graduating high school and college. Someday, I'll be in their shoes, too. And we can all help each other through the bittersweet times as we watch our birdies learn to fly.
Can you remember your oldest child graduating kindergarten? I wore a red jumper over a white blouse and had red ribbons in my hair for mine. ;-) My brother had Barney at his to help give out diplomas. My daughter's looked a bit different.