Goodbye, preschool. We will miss you.

Today, our little guy graduated from his preschool. In a few hours, he will step out of the place he has called his second home for over 3 years. A place he preferred often times than our home on weekends. Over the last few weeks culminating with today, he has said goodbye's to friends he cherishes. Friends he has known for the last 3.5 years at his daycare/preschool. In a sense, his first real set of friends. Some he will cross paths in the coming years. Others, maybe never. And for all the wonderful memories we have made here, we will ever be thankful to Happy Days, his daycare.A couple of months before he turned two, we hesitantly enrolled him at Happy Days not sure how they would feed him, how he would sleep and how he would make friends. Today, I cant be prouder of my son and what the school has done with him. He could not better prepared for elementary school.The last couple of years, the transition has been remarkable. In the first few rooms, he needed and got all the hugs and love from his teachers. In the last two classrooms, in addition to those wonderful hugs and kisses, he has learnt to read, write, count and express himself. His interest in art and music has been great to watch. His skills from handling the scissors to making collages to drawing to coloring have been a revelation. And his confidence in what he knows is refreshing. And to all this, I am thankful to his teachers. Most recently and most importantly, Ms.Jen.Ms.Jen has been his teacher for the last year and she has done wonders with him. His reading, writing and math skills have grown significantly, thanks to her. And her passion for animals and arts and music has been infectious. Be it the incubation of eggs to full grown hens and roosters in his own classroom or the surprise visit of her pet snake to meet the kids, she has done it the right way. The best part about what she has done with the little guy is that he wants and likes to do math and science. It is not what he has to do but what he wants to do. For a teacher to have made something fun for a child to learn is remarkable. And for that, I will be forever indebted to her.My wife calls me too sentimental and caught up in what is otherwise a phase of my son's life. Maybe so. But as I say goodbye to his pre-school, I am also saying goodbye to a part of our lives that will forever be something I think back with very fond memories. From his toddler room to the preK class, I have seen my son grow. He may not truly grasp the nature of what he has enjoyed and will miss- but as an adult, I do. To me, every room in Happy Days represents a wonderful phase of my child's early years. Memories made between the four walls of the school. Something that my wife and I will cherish and miss. And for providing a warm and nourishing environment for my son to thrive and grow, I am very thankful. To all his teachers, we will forever be indebted.Goodbye Happy Days, we will miss you.