For two school years, a wonderful group of women have watched over my little boy while I worked. They have given him lessons in letters and counting, taught him songs about the days of the week and the months of the year, and helped him learn how a student is expected to behave. He knows how to wait and walk in a line, how to take fair turns and share, and he speaks the language of kindergarten thanks to their efforts these past two years.

They organized a beautiful “graduation” ceremony for their little sunshines who will be leaving them for kindergarten in the fall. They lined up benches for the large audience of parents, siblings and grandparents, decorated the walls with photos, balloons and artwork, created a lovely slideshow of memories complete with interviews from the children, and spent months preparing the students to perform a few songs for us. True to his nature, my little class clown chose to fish for laughs from the crowd instead of performing as rehearsed, but that was a surprise to no one. His teachers know him well and love him for who he is.

They gave each of the graduating children a personal award to recognize their individual talents and celebrate the unique ways in which they shine. They gave awards like “best helper”, “kindest heart”, “fashionista”, and “number master.” They gave my son the “word whiz” award at the ceremony to acknowledge his impressive language skills. As the slideshow was wrapping up, I saw misty eyes and rosy noses on the teachers who had shared with me earlier that week that they will be sad to see this group of children go.

When he is grown, he may not remember a lot of his time with them, but I will always remember the sweet young women who showed my son so much love and patience, who worked hard to make his days fun and exciting and educational, who tended to his little ouchies and woke him gently from his nap, and who created precious keepsakes for me to remember his time in preschool.

I decided to make them some snacks to keep in the freezer for when they need a little extra fuel. Teaching 20 preschoolers isn’t for the weak, and these high-protein egg bites are perfect for getting a busy teacher through the witching hour in late afternoon. Thank you so much, ladies, for loving my silly little boy.

Mini Egg Bites

Ingredients — makes about 30 mini egg bites

9 eggs

½ cup low fat cottage cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

I made mine with cherry tomatoes, parsley, and feta, but any omelet-appropriate toppings will do. Just don’t overload the tin.

Directions:

Grease two mini-muffin tins with olive oil. You can use liners if you prefer, but I found that they tend to stick and mangle the egg when peeled off.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Blend the eggs, cottage cheese and salt until completely smooth.

Pour the mixture into the greased muffin tins up to about ¾ full.

Let them sit for 10 minutes to allow bubbles to come to the surface.

Gently drop the toppings onto the eggs, being careful not to overflow the tins.

Bake for 15 minutes. The tops should be solid but not browned.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing from the tins and laying flat on a parchment lined sheet tray.

Freeze them on the tray until solid then transfer to a zip top bag.

Store in the freezer for up to three months.

Reheat for about 30 seconds in the microwave.