I’ve been dreading this day for years. Today, my girls ‘graduated’ from preschool – the only school they’ve ever known and a place that truly accepted Molly with open arms. Needless to say, I went to school with tissues this morning.

It was only half-days of school and just a few hours, three days a week – but to our family, it was a time where our girls went to learn – about letters and numbers, but also how to be a friend, how to have good manners and have fun too.

I’ll never forget the day Maggie’s teacher asked me if I was going to let Molly go to school there when she was old enough. When I told them she had Down syndrome, they responded with, “And….?”  They were so incredibly gracious and practically begged us to let Molly be a part of their school. They treated her just as we had hoped – just like a typical kid.

It was such a strange feeling to leave school today and know that in a few months, we will be starting over at a different school with new teachers and making new friends. We will also start the process of introducing Molly to new surroundings and our hope is that others will accept her just as her preschool did so well.

So, for now – we bid farewell to our preschool days and plan ahead for the big world of Kindergarten for Maggie and a new program for Molly that involves more speech and occupational therapies in a typical class setting. I’m heartbroken to say goodbye to our preschool – but I’m incredibly excited about the days that are ahead for us.

Onward, upward… and hooray for summertime!