And so vacation begins

It has been about two weeks since I left West Elementary and the 2009-2010 school year behind. It feels like forever ago since I was there, and yet, in some ways it feels like just yesterday that I was waiting for the school year to come to a close. At the end of any school year, there are bittersweet emotions as a teacher....the first one is the obvious, "Thank goodness it's over..." or "I'm so glad I only work 9 months out of the year!", however, in my profession I spend sometimes up to three years with my students ages three to six, and by the time, their final year in Early Childhood is up, it's usually pretty hard to say good-bye. Not only have I watched this child grow in many ways, including but not limited to, communicating, walking, controlling behaviors, etc., but I have grown to love who this child is and all the little steps he/she has accomplished to get to this point. I also tend to grown a very close bond with the family, as this tends to be the child's first experience in school.
So, typically, it is very hard to say good-bye to a school year for me, although I would have expected differently this year. I would have thought I would just be completely ready for a fresh start...the end of a horrific year, instead two and a half weeks have passed, and I miss my kids and families more than I ever have. I really feel that it has something to do with the level of support they have given me throughout the years of working with their children, but also what they provided me after the loss of my little girl. The majority of my families that I worked with knew that I had lost her and made every effort to give me encouragment and support throughout the grieving process. However, I even had families that knew very little about my loss, yet came up in big ways to give me support in areas where I needed it. I have never walked away from a school year feeling more confident, more energetic and more stable in my ability as a teacher than I do this year. My families and students gave that to me, and in some ways, it's one of the greatest gifts that any teacher can receive. It ultimately is a great "healing" gift to know that you are loved and admired for the work that you do on a daily basis, and it helps to know that despite my loss, I was able to overcome my grief in order to be successful and proud of the work I did with my students.
And so....two and a half weeks later after not accepting the "new" Early Childhood job, my plan is to return to my school district knowing that their are many "new" children and families out there that I will need to support and grow to love. Although, I am not ready for the school year just yet, I am excited for what is right around the corner...