Last week, we celebrated The Princess’ end of the school year with a simple moving up day presentation that the girls prepared for us. Similar to what they did at the end of their Junior Nursery year, the girls all spoke on stage, one by one, to recall all the memorable and fun activities they had throughout their Senior Nursery year. They also entertained us with their song and dance numbers in between their little speeches.

I was holding back my tears as I watched my little girl say her lines, dance and sing. You see, last year, she did not participate at all. She cried in the backstage throughout the show because she was so disappointed that her dad did not make it. (He was called to the National Headquarters on the last minute.) That is why this year, I was so anxious because her dad won’t make it too since their Fire Olympics was moved on the same day as The Princess’ moving up day.

Thankfully, although dad was not around, The Princess spoke her lines with pride. She made me laugh a little when they sang their opening prayer when she called out to the crowd: “Mommy?” The lights above the audience were dimmed so they could not see us. But I called out, “I’m here, K!” to let her know I’m there. She responded with a smile and gave her best performance throughout the show.

In their last song, I saw The Princess frowning already. She had sensed that her dad was not there. To her surprise, however, when she looked at the side of the stage, she saw her daddy standing proud and cheering her on. Better late than never, no doubt! She smiled with excitement–and kilig–then gave an even bigger performance in their last song.

She jumped off the stage soon after the show ended and hugged her dad, who gave her a bouquet of flowers. “These are the best flowers, daddy!” she said.

It really is a big deal for our children for us, their parents, to be present. Gifts do not matter as much as our presence and The Princess proved that when she said that the best moving up day gift was that both her dad and I were there. *tears*

We are entering yet another stage in our family’s journey. The Princess is now entering her Kinder year (why so fast?!) and The Little Man is starting school! I sense that we will be going through a lot of changes–with challenges along the way–but as always, as long as we stick together as a family, everything will be okay.

To all our graduates and those who are entering a new phase in their life…CHEERS to yet another adventure! 🙂