Nursery Graduation

It’s the end of an era.  Nursery is finished and school is on the horizon.  I’m not sure how much Daisy understands about school and how it will be different to nursery.  She knows her teachers name and that she will be having lunch in the “school café”.

We had two nursery graduations with Daisy going to both school and a privately funded nursery.  All the friends she met in school nursery will form part of her Primary one class.  However the children at private nursery, well she’ll most likely never see them again.  That made me a little sad. 

Daisy had a similar start to my own childhood.  We moved house right at the time I was going to nursery.  Mum couldn’t get me into the catchment school nursery where our new house was so I continued at my old nursery before joining my school class in primary one.  I have vague memories of a little blonde haired boy who I was friendly with, I think his name was Paul.  I recall a photograph of my nursery class but sadly it seems to have gone missing.  When I saw it last I didn’t see Paul in the photo.  Who knows what happened.  Maybe he was off that day.  Maybe it's so long ago I didn't remember things correctly.

Thirty years later I found myself in a similar situation where Daisy had two sets of friends and had struck up a good friendship with a little boy in her privately run nursery.  I imagined when nursery was over Daisy asking me to invite Ewan to her birthday parties and me not knowing where he lived.  She often asks if he can come over to our house to visit.  Sometimes the best friendships start when you are really young.  Could I risk Daisy not seeing him ever again, absolutely not!  

Imagine everyday your child and another child are in nursery together, that they played with each other the entire time.  Dressing up in costumes.  Running around holding hands.  Spotting each other at the swimming baths on days off and being so excited to see each other.  One child, waiting at the door for the other to arrive on their allotted day.  This was the story that was relayed to my mum or I by the staff every week.  Later, I found out the same stories were being relayed to his parents.  Daisy and Ewan are best of friends.  Daisy often tells me she is going to marry Ewan and I know Ewan talks about Daisy a lot.  Now that is a friendship worth nurturing.     
   

Ewan’s mum and I made contact with each other for the first time recently and we introduced ourselves at the graduation ceremony.  We talked about meeting up over the school holidays and shortly after we organised a lovely day out at a local play barn.  We laughed exchanging stories about the things nursery had reported back to us over the past few years.  Some of the things would make you laugh so hard you couldn’t breathe.  We drank slush puppy, we shared slush puppy when someone drank all hers!  Ewan’s sister Ellie kept a tight reign on the jelly tots sweets, only handing one over to her mother.  Exactly the sort of thing Daisy would do to me.  On the way out Daisy gave Ewan a big kiss goodbye and we all laughed at how funny they are together.  I’m glad this story has a happy ending because now we know Ewan lives close by and we can stay in touch.  So it’s not goodbye, not this time, it’s until the next time.  See you soon Ewan. x