~*~
*NOTE* I will preface this post with a proactive apology to Namaste and Sujomi who I am about to offend ... more than they want to be publicly offended ... which should be a deterrent for me but isn't.
Here
we are, smack dab in the middle of graduation season. The season where,
as parents, we formally acknowledge that our children are now legally
responsible for themselves and we no longer have to stock the
refrigerator for them ...
Or, where we formally acknowledge that our children can color inside of the lines ... most of the time.
You
silly parents! You can call it preschool (or elementary school or
middle school) graduation, but by definition it is nothing more than a
ceremony put together for parents so they can take pictures and post
them on their facebook wall.
Here's
my issue with these faux graduations - they give a sense of importance
to transitions that really should be assumed and expected from our kids.
When
I was a kid (I can hear y'all cringing as you read that line) we just
went to the next stage of school. There weren't any parties, faux
commencement ceremonies, and no one made huge deal over something that should
be expected - going to kindergarten, then middle school, then high
school. After high school? Well? Then you have reason to celebrate!
~*~
(11/365)
11 comments:
I think those ceremonies are cute as hell...Okay , no I don't. They're stupid. Cheers Dana!!
Matt-Man
I had an 8th grade graduation because back then some kids didn't go to high school.
Getoffmyfuckinglawn.blogspot.com is available.
But it was so cute!
And for the record, I do want my kid to celebrate transitions. When he gets a promotion, he should go get himself a cookie and you better believe I will give him a hug, which is exactly what he got for "graduating" from preschool.
:) "Namaste".Gina (commenting from my phone and therefore Anonymous)
Also, as we've discussed, I dont keep a baby book. I would love pics from my preschool graduation ceremony ( which I did have, thankyouverymuch) so when I make blog posts into a book one day, he will have them.
I've had some serious hate thrown at me this week over much bigger things, so I'm not offended at all. Plus, my husband agrees with you. I just hope you didnt hurt yourself rolling your eyes out of your head as you read my post. Love you (still)!
Oh crap. My signature ended up in the wrong spot. Apparently I should not have earned that preschool diploma. Stupid phone.
Gina
Good point Dana...we also need to stop celebrating birthdays 'cause we're just rewarding people for being alive and breathing. ;)
HH says if we're going to fight it out, it needs to be a Jello wrestling match. You up?
Matt-Man IWS, I know you love them!
Mike, not only was that all of the school some kids got, it was also in the age of "If you don't pass you get held back". Something we can't do now because we'll hurt the kids' feelings.
"Namaste" Gina, If they were just an in-school thing - part of an end-of-year classroom celebration it would be one thing. But all of this external pomp-and-circumstance seems so overdone.
Sujomi, at least celebrating birthdays is rooted in decades of societal tradition, although I say we wait to really celebrate until we hit 50 ... when still being alive and breathing is an accomplishment.
Margarita Jell-O ... and shots of tequila ... GO!
What preschools do external things??? Like parties? Or...sigh. I'm confused as always.
Coming from a family that lost a child to both an accident and an illness, we tend to celebrate everything. EVERYTHING.
Yes, we've done the preschool, 6th grade, junior high and highschool grad parties for all three kids...and yesterday we celebrated our second college graduation.
The early graduation ceremonies and celebrations were for the kids. The ones like yesterday, the ceremony is only for the parents and families. The party is...welll....how 24 year olds celebrate.
But even WAY back to preschool days, it has always given us an excuse to get the misshapen family tree together. I would do it all the same.
And 7th and 8th graders are getting their own prom now too? That's down right ridiculous there.
Jay
I agree with Dana. Preschool and 8th grade aren't really accomplishments. High School graduation means someone went through 12 years of school. That's an accomplishment.
The thought of a ceremony might help a kid in high school that hates it. They may hang in for the graduation. If they already had graduation ceremonies for every little thing, there is no incentive to stick with it.
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