Saying Goodbye to ECFE

We attended what was likely our family's last night of Minnesota's statewide program, Early Childhood and Family Eduction (ECFE), an education program for families with children from birth to age five.  We have participated since Oliver was four weeks old, at which point I could do nothing more than sit quietly while we talked about choosing a kindergarten and mentally filed away notes for a stage in my life that seemed so far away.  And now I've arrived. 

I've been doing this for nearly six years.  Semester after semester, I've attended without hiatus.  I started in a birth-to-five class at Monroe down the street from our house, then moved to a baby class at another site, Randolph Heights, but when that closed at the end of the semester, I chose yet another site, Rondo, the following fall. With no evening age-specific classes at Rondo for Oliver's age group in the spring, I decided to go back to Monroe and attend an evening birth-to-five class.  I joined a birth-to-three daytime class in the fall, but when I got a new job, I transferred back into my old Monday night evening class. And that's where we stayed.

Every Monday night for almost four years, in rain or snow, sunshine or darkness, depending upon the season, we gulped down dinner and headed down the street to the school where the teachers greeted my children with enthusiastic hellos.  I've carried my kids in the Ergo, pushed them in a stroller, let them ride their tricycles and even pulled them in a sled one snowy evening. For almost four years we've been with this class, with these teachers and with many of the same families.  They've watched us add children to our family and then watched those children grow up.  One teacher has known Oliver since he was four weeks old. 

When we started ECFE, our street had only one other baby and few people at our site lived in the immediate neighborhood.  As the neighborhood goes through transition, it's filling up with children, including two due late this summer.  Half our class is now within walking distance of the school.  I feel like it is time to make room for another family starting their journey.  I'm sad to say goodbye, but I know ECFE has served its purpose.  I leave a better parent and better connected to my community. I'm thankful for the learning environment the program provided for my children and for the friends I have made.  My only regret is that Kiera and Matteo experienced only a couple of months of a program they were blossoming in.