OSFO moves on and Smartmom follows

Tag : sheepskin shoes

Hepcat and The Oh So Feisty One spent the night before hergraduation from PS 321 coloring her hair blue. Hepcat is quite theartiste when it comes to applying Manic Panic hair color with apaintbrush (it must be all those painting classes he took withrenowned abstract artist Elizabeth Murray at Bard College back inthe 1970s).
OSFO had her heart set on peacock blue and she’d designed hergraduation outfit around it.
It took more than two hours, but when Hepcat was done, OSFOshampooed her hair and stared at herself in the hallway mirror,pleased with the results.
On graduation morning, she was a sight to behold: Electric bluehair, a white Empire waist dress with blue polka dots, blackleggings and, the final touch, royal blue Converse high tops.
Voila.
The family, including a reluctant Teen Spirit and a less-reluctantDiaper Diva, walked proudly to the John Jay HS building on SeventhAvenue with their color-coordinated soon-to-be graduate.
Smartmom admired the other fifth-grade girls in their festiveattire. Some wore high heels they could barely walk in. Even theboys made an effort to dress up, wearing suits, jackets, oversizedbutton-down shirts, ties, good shoes, and hats.
Smartmom, Hepcat and Teen Spirit found seats in the balcony of thestifling auditorium. There was speechifying by fifth graders thattugged at Smartmom’s heart. One kid, a budding politician nodoubt, spoke portentously, “This is not just the best schoolin the city, it’s the best school in the world!” Otherstalked about the friends they’d made, the teachersthey’d loved and all the interesting things they’dlearned.
The principal spoke directly to the kids: “As people, youunderstand the importance of working together and making each otherlook good.”
Borough President Markowitz delighted (the parents, at least) withhis speech about eating right and getting exercise. But when heasked, “Any doctors in the house? Any lawyers? Any futureborough presidents?” Smartmom was disappointed. What aboutartists, actors, and writers?
Marty ended the speech, as he has done for years, with a“Star Wars”-style light saber in his hand, “Maythe force be with you,” he said.
Teen Spirit napped, Hepcat snapped pictures, Smartmom skippedaround to empty seats visiting friends.
Finally, the children received their diplomas. One by one, everyname was called. Smartmom and Diaper Diva went downstairs to get abetter view of OSFO receiving sheepskin. Then the children sang“Yonder Come Day,” a rousing Negro spiritual.
According to OSFO, none of the children wanted to sing that song.They wanted to sing, “Seasons of Love” from“Rent.” But you could barely discern their ambivalencebecause they sang so movingly and with such enthusiasm.
Smartmom cried, experiencing some release from the build-up of thelast few weeks: the waiting to hear about middle school, the manyend-of-year events, the endless sense of ending. It felt cathartic.
After the graduation ceremony, there were still two more schooldays before the last day of school. The kids aren’t requiredto attend — they’ve graduated after all. But most ofthem enjoy cleaning up their classrooms and hanging out with theirteachers and friends.
On the last official day of school, it rained, and the playgroundbegan to clear not long after the noon dismissal. Parents clutchedreport cards, test scores, shopping bags stuffed with schoolwork,artwork, clay sculptures.
Some fifth graders cried. Some, like blue-haired OSFO, were very“whatever.” One mom’s eye make-up was blurry andblack from the sadness and the humidity.