I’ve probably said it close to 57,000 times since last week but I can’t believe that the preschool - yes, the very same one I had helped found (by accident) - is now done with its first school year.

What have I learnt?

That you can find friends in the most unlikely places, surprisingly good ones, the ones who will tell you like it is and stick through hell and high water with you - and with whom you will go to the ends of the earth with because they are not just all talk and because even though they judge you, you know they’re just being honest and not malicious and come across, in the end, as the most valuable friends you can ever have. Yes, I’m talking about you, Sara. You rock!

That no matter how tough the going gets, it can get even tougher.

That you can be sure of one thing one minute, and of another the next, and it’s okay because you’re the one taking all the crap for it anyway.

That some of the most well-paid, highest-qualified people are also the laziest.

That kids don’t really care about how a preschool looks - parents do.

That such an endeavour - an accident though it was, since I didn’t really know what I was getting into - has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.

And I am secretly very proud of it.

Jennifer Tai: writer, mother, photographer and preschool founder. My work is done.

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