My little five-year-old just finished his last day of preschool today. His last day. Ever.

And although we are very excited about him going to elementary school in the fall, this day is a little bittersweet.

Why must children grow up so fast? We spend these preschool years with our precious ones chasing us and tugging on us…

And then–*POOF*–suddenly the window of time is gone, and we’re on to the next “big kid” chapter.

I was talking about it this morning with a couple of the other moms. [Usually, we drop off and dash, but today we lingered… An unspoken stretching out of this day, perhaps?] The two moms I happen to be talking with have no younger children and are now done with preschool. So this is it. After two kids for one and three for the other, totaling years in these halls, they are now finished with preschool.

Tonight, there is a graduation ceremony. It’s a big deal, Sunday best and all that. Heart tugging galore, no doubt. I’m going prepared.

And knowing that I am not alone in both celebrating and mourning, I thought I’d hook up my sisters (ha, and maybe some of the dads, too!) with a little gift appropriate for the occasion.

These little kleenex packets are awesome. I carry them in my purse all the time. [You can get an 8-pack for $2.26 at Walmart!]

[Update: A reader tells me you can get these 8-packs for $1 at Dollar Tree, huzzah!]

All you have to do to transform them for such an event (they are GREAT for weddings too) is print out a little note and attach with two-sided tape. I centered my message and our preschool logo on the page and printed seven to a page. I used colored cardstock, but white paper (with colored-in detail) is cute too.

I cut the pages into strips (and decided which color strip would go with which color kleenex package).

Then it was as simple as wrapping each paper around each kleenex pack and securing with a bit of two-sided tape.

And voila! A little bit of functional cuteness to give out to the other mamas tonight, wheeeeeee!

I might need a few for myself too! *sniff*

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