I’m with Mr. Incredible On This One
Mr. Incredible from Pixar’s The Incredible’s, poo-poo’d a graduation ceremony his son was going to have, for going from the fifth grade to the sixth grade, during a marital spat with his wife. I never gave his comment much thought, until it came flooding back through my brain as I picked up my daughter from kindergarten today and her teacher said to me, “check her backpack, there is a promotion portrait order form in there”.
I love my daughter’s teacher, just in case anyone has jumped the gun and thinks this is an attack on her, it’s not. This isn’t about her. She’s an amazing, patient, dynamo, who taught my child how to read like gangbusters. The decision to have promotion ceremonies was implemented somewhere after I graduated kindergarten and before my daughter enrolled in school.
Blogs and Facebook rants past have probably already been here done that … I just feel the need to add my playful banter to the discussion. This may make me a hater … but a promotion ceremony for kindergarten is silly.
Isn’t it? Just a little bit? My daughter is going to have her promotion portrait taken, on a day that has been designated Promotion Portrait day. She will wear a graduation gown. I can choose a backdrop; the American flag, columns, the Lincoln Memorial, a standard bookshelf, a rotunda bookshelf, or what appears to be an attorney’s office filled with law books.
Those all seem so serious for my daughter, who’s six and a bit of a goofball. Is there a “I really love to play soccer” backdrop, or “can we go surfing” backdrop? If it has to be school related how about “I learned how to swing on the monkey bars – forward and backward” backdrop? She’s in kindergarten, so mastering dare devil motor skills was kind of our focus.
I mean, I have to admit I was walking around informing everyone my six-year-old was on track to become a constitutional law attorney, but then I gave up when I noticed all the eye rolling and disinterest in my amazingly brilliant daughter. So instead, I decided to recognized our other accomplishments for the year, learning to tie our shoes and spelling C-H-E-N-N-A-M-C-H-E-T-T-Y! I bet you can’t spell Chennamchetty without looking.
And I’m curious, what is the national kindergarten graduation rate? Even if an occasional kid stays for round two, eventually don’t they all go on to 1st grade? Before the promotion packet came home, I thought it was pretty darn amazing to say, “Oh my gosh! You are going to be a 1st grader next year!” I mean, it is kind of crazy. My baby is going to be a first grader!
Oh well …
So, because my daughter’s need to participate in an apparent right of passage and her extreme enthusiasm for having herself photographed overrides my stubbornness to prove a point, I’m ordering the promotion ceremony portrait package #4. There are 8 wallets in that thing. I think it’d be super duper if she could wear the blue gown and hold the diploma prop in front of backdrop “standard bookcase”. I’ll lovingly send them off to all her adoring fans (Grandparents) with an invitation to her celebration spectacular (drop off and pick up on the last day of school).
Cheers all you other scrooges out there! I hope you also make the right choice … whatever that is?!
You always make me smile…..but 12 years from now, you’ll cry looking at that milestone. Its a right of passage, from baby, toddler, kindy-gart-ner to elementary age. Goes fast Lizzie, hang on, or you’ll be dizzy.