Goodbye, second grade

Marcus finished second grade last Friday after a week of zoo field trips, award assemblies, school bowling games,  and class barbecues. It was a really good and happy year for him. He had a wonderful and enthusiastic teacher. His best friend was in his class. His reading got even better and he continued to love math. He only missed one day the entire school year. For dinner on that last day, we got a pizza and some rootbeer and went to the park to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer. We raised our plastic cups and toasted each other. It was fun. Later that night when all the kids were in bed, Tim and I turned on a movie but we were only a few minutes into it when we heard sobbing coming from the boys' room. It was Marcus. Tim went in and brought him out, his little chest heaving with big sobs and tears streaming down his red cheeks. I asked him what was wrong and he gulped out, "School is over. I don't want it to be over," and then he started crying again. We wrapped him up in a blanket and Tim made him some hot chocolate and we snuggled our little almost-eight-year-old as he mourned the end of a wonderful school year. The next morning he was all smiles and excitement for the summer and all the fun things it promises--birthdays, a baptism, lunches at the park, swimming lessons, art class, taekwondo with Dad. He mourned and then he moved forward. My oldest is growing up.