Pre-school graduation? Huh?

I had no idea that pre-schoolers had a "graduation." Never even occurred to me, until I got the invitation to my own 4-year-old's graduation celebration. I was genuinely surprised. I was even more suprised when a fellow Mom mentioned to me that she's already taken her daughter shopping for a brand-new graduation day outfit, and that her relatives are all coming in from out-of-town to come to the celebration. This prompted another Mom to excitedly tell us that her relatives were coming as well, and that she bought her little boy a big graduation day gift. (It honestly didn't even occur to me to ask my parents to drive 6 hours to come!) So, I mentioned to a girlfriend of mine that the graduation was tonight (she's a level-headed girl, and I thought she'd chuckle along with me, y'nkow?). But, she immediately started bombarding me with excited, high-pitched questions like: "Is everybody coming in from out-of-town?" "Are you going to have a pre-graduation party at the house?" "What did you get him for graduation?" "What is he going to wear?" "Aren't you excited?"and so on and so on... The truth is, I didn't even know there was a pre-school graduation, let alone that I was supposed to get all riled up about it. I think I missed the part in the Mommy books that talks about this being a really big deal. (This is making me sound like a cold, disinterested, uninvolved Mom, isn't it? Well, you should have seen how crazy with excitement I got when he rode his bike without training wheels for the first time. Now, that's an accomplishment! We went out to dinner AND ice cream for that one.) Anyway, of course I'm proud of my little guy, and I'm looking forward to the next stage (with a bit of melancholy, but mostly with optimism and excitement), but graduation doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. They all graduate, y'know? Nobody flunks pre-school. Basically, he just had to show up, be a good boy most of the time, learn a little bit, and mission accomplished! Ah well.... I have made my giant pot of macaroni and cheese for the party. I took a shower and even put on a skirt. And, in just a few minutes, I'll be taking my little guy to his pre-school graduation. But, I didn't buy him a special graduation day present, and he won't be wearing a new outfit. I'll just shower him with hugs and kisses, take lots of photos for the relatives, and remind him that every day I get to spend with him is cause for celebration.