The last few days have been momentous, to say the least. And I have a song stuck on repeat in my brain:

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

(“Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce)

I have a confession. Before I had E, I used to roll my eyes every time I’d hear a parent whine, “I can’t believe how fast time is going. I can’t believe my baby is xx (starting kindergarten, starting junior high, graduating high school, graduating college, knocked up, etc).

I’m sure I even taunted my poor mom for crying on all of those occasions.

Past Jackie sure was a heartless bitch. This shit is hard, yo.

Over the past week, we’ve had E’s ballet recital (perhaps her last ever?), toured her new school with other incoming kindergarteners, had our final Mother’s Day lunch at her preschool and registered for kindergarten. I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH, UNIVERSE.

Surprisingly, through it all, I haven’t shed a tear (much to @andreadennis‘ astonishment).

I think I’m just numb to the cascade of changes.

So I’ll do Future Jackie a solid and memorialize all these happenings before they’re lost to the cobwebs of her brain. I’m sure SHE will cry, particularly when the next series of big accomplishments start happening (please, please let “knocked up” be the final thing to happen on that list).

Last weekend was E’s ballet recital. To be honest, I’m not sure if we’re going to continue with ballet in the fall or not. She still loves it, but after two straight years, I think she (and us) are ready to try something new. We may come back to it someday but I’ll doubt she’ll ever look this cute again. I mean, c’mon.

I know I’m clearly biased, but really? Have you ever seen a sweeter ballerina? I just could not stop taking pictures of her in that tutu that they made us pay entirely too much money for. Good thing she’s so cute.

As some of you may recall, we were on the fence as to where E. would go to elementary school. We’d landed low on the waiting list for one local charter school, and until ast weekend, we had one more lottery to go. Well, we ended up with no shot for that one either. To be honest? It was a bit of a relief. While the charter school was wonderful academically, it just didn’t have the same social appeal to us. Now, E. will go to our neighborhood public school, and all three of us, as it turns out, are thrilled about it. No, seriously. We’re all feeling really good and excited about it.

Last week, we even got our first look at the school during an incoming kindergarteners’ tour. During a brief pre-tour meeting, we heard from the principal, the guidance counselor, the art teacher, the music teacher, the after-care director, and the incoming PTA president. I was really impressed with everyone’s energy and enthusiasm.

And when it came time to meet the six kindergarten teachers and check out the classrooms, E. was very excited to explore. And here’s the best part of our school — thanks to preschool, ballet and the neighborhood, she is already friends with about a dozen kids.

I think, pray and hope that this is going to be a very, very good thing for us. My biggest hope is that in these first couple years of schooling, she gets teachers who continue to challenge her and keep her excited about learning and coming to school. She loves to learn new things now and my biggest wish is for her to keep that passion.

From what I saw in our first couple hours at the school, I’m optimistic about that happening next year.

Of course, with the start of new chapters is the ending of others. This week marked my third and final Mother’s Day lunch at E’s school. They always do such a wonderful job with the day and this year’s event was no exception. Class by class, the students come and perform a short song for us.

And as you have probably gathered by now, if there’s one thing my girl likes, it’s a stage.

After the show, we had lunch and I got my gifts from E.

Yes, I go to very fancy concerts … like Bon Jovi and the Imagination Movers. I wish I had that blue dress. It’s pretty sweet.

Notice that my girl colored everything in orange and blue for Syracuse for me. Sweet girl.

During the lunch, she even leaned over and whispered to me, “Mommy, I’ll love you forever. Even when you’re dead.” I knew I should’ve burned this book.

But perhaps the best part of the day was getting E’s graduation pictures. OMG, I die.

Is she 5 or 15?? When did she get so old? And since I was riding high on the emotions of the day, they suckered me into buying more pictures. But would you have been able to resist these?

As you may remember from the Girl Trouble post, this was the dress and day that caused so much angst in our house. And you can barely even see the blush-stained bird (it’s right in the center of her body, where the waist cinches). Yes, I apparently overreact from time to time. Oh well. I need to give her some fodder for future therapy sessions.

Thankfully those pictures were already taken well in advance of the graduation because this weekend, E. danced her face off, literally.

We were at a neighborhood dance party (I love our neighborhood) and as she was running around with her little pals, she tripped and face-planted on the sidewalk, tearing her poor face up.

I just hope that’s the worst of it. She’s also been complaining that her wrist hurts. It has full range of motion and doesn’t bother her most of the time. But sometimes, when she tries to put weight on it to sit up or to push a door open, she complains of it hurting. I’m hoping it’s just jammed or stoved (do people still use that phrase? My grandmother always used to use that on us). But now Twitter has made me paranoid that it’s actually fractured or broken.  We’ll see how it is in the morning. She went to bed with no complaints (well, no more than usual) so I’m hoping another day of resting it will help.

Now we just need to survive her pre-K graduation at the end of the month!

I’m stockpiling tissues now.

What’s the funniest thing your kids have said about you in a school project? And any advice on injured limbs? What should I be looking for?