Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is yet to come.

When my two girls were born, people would always say your kids will grow up before you know it. This year, I think that just happened. My youngest daughter Graci who is 11, will be going to middle school in the fall. All this month, students in fifth grade are invited to tour the middle school they will be attending  and meet some of the staff and teachers.

I had the opportunity to check out my daughter's school with her along with hundreds of other fifth grade parents and their kids.  It truly was an eye opener and realization of yes, my daughter is growing up. I think most parents who have kids going into sixth grade will agree, it is a big step up. For some reason even though it is just one grade up from fifth grade, the transition into middle school is more than a grade level. Most students who go to middle school attend a new school and are no longer the oldest kids on campus, now they are the youngest. The other big differences are students have lockers and switch classes. As an adult, have you ever had the common locker dream, where you couldn't remember your combination? If you haven't you're lucky. As far as classes, my daughter will go from having one main teacher in fifth grade to having seven teachers in sixth grade.

Kids aren't the only ones in for a change. I know I am going to miss my daughter's elementary school especially the teachers and staff. This is a new chapter for me as a parent. For the past eight years, I have been dropping off  and picking up at least one of my daughters at the same school. What makes my kids elementary school even more special to me is, I attended it when I was younger. I am also going to miss volunteering at the school and chaperoning on field trips. One of my daughter's favorite things is when I eat lunch with her at school. I don't get to do it as often as I like, but I know Graci loves it because she asks me all the time to come to school and eat with her.  In middle school, you can't eat lunch with your kids. I don't think the school lets you and it's middle school, you just don't do that anymore.

At least there are a few more months of elementary school and summer before my daughter actually becomes a middle schooler. I know time won't stop and before I know it my kids will be going off to college. I really try to enjoy the days I have with my kids. I had someone tell me recently their child was in college and they were coming home for spring break and she couldn't wait to do her child's laundry. I laughed, but know it's so true. I think Mother Teresa said it best when she said,  "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is yet to come. We have only today. Let us begin." 

Middle School, A Whole New Chapter for Kids and Parents

School is about to begin...and in my house there is excitement and nervousness. This year my oldest daughter will go into sixth grade. I can't believe how my little girl has grown up...especially this past year.  It seems like just the other day she was starting kindergarten. She was learning how to read, write and tie her shoes.

It's a whole new chapter for not only my daughter, but for my husband and me. Sixth grade for most kids is middle school, which means a new school, new teachers and new students. It also means I have a lot more real life issues I have to talk to my daughter about. Middle school is not elementary school. Today's middle school students deal with sex, drugs, alcohol, bullying, suicide, rape and more.

So how much do our kids need to know about these life issues to be ready for middle school? As a parent I want to prepare my daughter, but I also don't want her innocence gone. I want my ten-year-old to be a ten-year-old.

Still, I think it is important to talk to her about all these issues. I don't have to go into details, but I do need to talk to her so she knows what's right and wrong. If I don't do it someone will and I want her to have my same values and morals. Like most kids today, my daughter knows a lot more about these issues than I did when I was her age. I think kids know more because of television and the internet. What years ago was once taboo to show or talk about on television is now common practice.

And the Internet is a whole new media. It is great in some ways, but in other ways it scares me especially with young kids. There is so much out there and if you aren't careful misspelling a word can lead to a pornographic site.

As parents we have to really pay attention to our children especially when our kids are in middle school. This is a time in their life when they can be influenced by others. We need to pay attention to what they are learning in school, on social media and from friends.  I think it's important to have open lines of communication with your kids, so they can talk to you about anything. It is hard being a parent, let me re-phrase that, it's hard being a good parent. You have to invest time into your kids. The problem is if you don't do it when they are first experiencing these real life situations, you may never get to do it. They grow up so fast and before you know it they are 18 and off to college.