On To 3rd Grade..

I was at my oldest son's school today, for his end of the year party in his classroom. I hadn't been able to volunteer this year as much as I had in the past, so to get to see him in his element was a treat.
I couldn't get over how much older he seems. He's so confident, and comfortable around his peers. So much different than kindergarten or first grade, where I worried so much about him fitting in, and feeling comfortable. Clearly he has found his niche.
At the end of the party, before dismissal, the school did something that they do every year, but that I had never heard of before. All the students stand in their hallways, listening to the song "Celebration" over the p.a. system, and wait for the graduating 5th graders to parade down the halls, being cheered and high fived all the way. They'll be moving onto the middle school next year. This is how they say goodbye. It was very sweet, and exciting, and oddly sad. I don't know why I became so emotional, whether it was my raging hormones (PMS) or seeing that it won't be long before my own young son and first born will be parading down that hall as well.. but when I heard the song being played on the radio, I felt totally overwhelmed by emotion and had to hold back the tears. It was bordering pathetic, really. Kool and the Gang should not have that affect on me! But whatever, it was still a sweet moment, as I stood in the hallway, holding my youngest son's hand, and watching from a distance, my oldest son growing up before my eyes...