Last night my little tiny baby boy graduated from kindergarten.

I was a little nervous about the ceremony – not nervous about how Joshua would do, but nervous that it would be, you know, torture for all involved.

But, set your expectations low, and they will be exceeded.  It was so good.  All 60-odd kindergartners did great!  They sang, they played handbells, they walked across the stage and got their diplomas – and every part was adorable.  Nobody cried, peed, disrobed, or even picked their nose.  It was like, perfect.  I am sure the teachers breathed a big sigh of relief!

And I got a little weepy more than once.  How could I not?  I am this child’s mother:

Here he is walking toward his principal, Mrs. Hines, to get his diploma:

What’s super-special about this is that “Mrs. Hines” is better known as “Rita” to me, because she is my mom’s BFF and has known me since I was born. It is really cool for me that she is Joshua’s principal!

Joshua has changed so much this year – almost all for the better – and I am so proud of him! I couldn’t be any prouder. I’m so thankful to be his mommy and excited about what his next years of learning and growing at school will bring!

Joshua has changed so much since going to kindergarten.  Bobby and I count the ways and add to them often.  I am sure Emily and I will both have a post at the end of the year about the innumerable ways kindergarten has affected our kiddos and about the million things they have learned.  I giggle when I say this, but in truth, some of this learning has been a wee bit inconvenient for mom and dad.

Like for instance, the unit on weather that Joshua’s class did a couple of months ago where he learned about tornadoes.  And the accompanying tornado drills.  The combination of which has now rendered him terrified of  the possibility of a tornado.  Yippeee!

The other day, he asked me what month it was, because he knew while he was on spring break from school it was going to turn from March into April.

“It’s April,” I replied.

“Oh NO! APRIL!  TORNADOES!” he wailed.  I guess they learned in school that tornadoes are more likely to happen during the spring, which to him means April.  Anyway, he was fairly sure a funnel cloud was going to form instantly and carry us all away.

Yesterday morning shortly after waking, he started in on his tornado talk as we were snuggling on the couch.

“What if we can’t get to the basement on time?  How come it can’t get us if we’re under the ground?”

I tried to convince him he didn’t need to worry about it, but he has taken to not believing a word I say, so it was difficult!

Then yesterday afternoon in the car on the way to Target, he said, “I know a tornado isn’t going to come when I die.”

“What do you mean, honey?”

“Well, God made heaven a happy place, and when I die, I’ll go there, and since God made it like that, no tornadoes can come there.”

GREAT. Now we’re talking about death AND tornadoes.  Yippeee!!

Last night as he was going potty before bed, he asked my husband, “What if a tornado comes while I’m sitting on the potty?”

FOR THE LOVE!!!

Then, 2.2 seconds after I tucked him into bed, the world’s LOUDEST thunderstorm began.  The kind that had me running around lighting candles and checking the TV to see if there were in fact, any tornado watches or warnings.

As you can guess, Joshua was a bit, um, AFRAID.  It took some creative talking to get him calmed down enough to where he could fall asleep.

I have a feeling this tornado talk isn’t over.  Ohio is a stormy place in the spring!  With my kindergarten boy and all his new weather knowledge, I think it’s going to be a very long rainy season.