Something super fun happened this week! The kindergarten classes at Daniel’s neighborhood school officially finished their study of each letter of the alphabet. They were ready to celebrate, so a parade was in order!

Each child in the class was assigned a letter, along with a hat and a paper bag vest to decorate in honor of their letter.

Daniel was thrilled to get the letter P. Did I ever tell you that for a while he asked us to call him Pizza Orange? He did! I’m still not sure why, but whatever! Pizza Orange got the perfect letter.

Anyway, Daniel covered his vest with pink and purple pompoms and polka dots, popcorn and pepperoni, pretzels and pigs, and the day finally came.

Lucky for my Chicago son, Sam, he was home visiting, so he got to come too. We rolled out of bed early Tuesday morning and made our way to school. We left twenty five minutes early, even though school is five minutes away, because I knew Parking would be a Problem. (So many P words!)

Sure enough, it was. So we found an empty street in a nearby neighborhood and walked.

The Parade was fantastic!

All five classes marched, doing a double loop around the back parking lot, singing the ABC song. The crowd loved it, cheering them on and taking lots of Pictures.

Once it was over, the kids marched back to class, and we headed back to the car.

But as we left, I saw another parade I didn’t expect. One I loved just as much.

A parade of people who cared, heading back to their cars or their nearby homes. People who’d rolled out of bed like us, people in sweatpants, work uniforms, scrubs, and suits. Parents pushing strollers, grandparents holding hands, aunts and uncles standing in for parents who had to be at work. People very different, but also the same. How I love public school!

It was beautiful! I was lucky to see it.