Mikaela’s graduated kindergarten!!

Mikaela’s last day of kindergarten! What an emotional day that was. Just knowing that next year she’ll be starting ‘real school’ (and they really do hit it hard in first grade here in Poland) — combined with the fact that Maia will be starting preschool in the fall — well, that was the makings of a tear-filled day for Sarah. Her teacher made it worse by reading aloud a letter Mikaela had written to her. It was so sweet, so like my Mikaela. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for how well-adjusted Mikaela is to life in Poland. Her Polish is awesome. Her teacher even commented to me that there is no difference developmentally or with language ability between Mikaela and other kids in the class. I don’t think that’s necessarily true – Mikaela’s vocab is much smaller than theirs, but for her teacher to be able to say that is an amazing thing. To a certain extent, we take it for granted that our children will grow up well-adjusted, self-confident, able to cope in situations, don’t we? There are so many things that work together to ensure our kids have everything they need emotionally and spiritually – loving home, consistent discipline, church family and Sunday school, lots of good Christian friends, maybe even a Christian school. But with two-language, two-culture kids, it’s not necessarily a given that the child is going to be well-adjusted. I mean, no offense, but look at how many MK’s don’t know how to cope in either culture. Whatever the reason for that is (and if you know, please share), I feel so grateful that Mikaela feels this comfortable in Polish culture. After 3 years in preschool, she’s self-confident, happy, and nowhere near the shy little thing so terrified on the first day. If only she’ll be as well-adjusted and confident in American culture! Anyway, I’ll post some pictures of her big day as soon as I figure out why I can’t attach them to this blog.