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." 

Where did the summer go?

The summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye. It seems like every summer goes faster and faster. I thought maybe it was just me, so I asked a few friends if they thought this summer just flew by and they agreed. I am trying to figure out where the time goes.

As I started thinking about the summer just flying by, I realized my kids are growing up so fast. They are moving up another grade level this year. It’s hard to believe that my oldest daughter is going into fourth grade. In my mind it seems like just the other day she was born. My youngest or my baby isn’t really a baby anymore; she is going into second grade.

I remember the first time I took my oldest daughter to school. It was preschool. I thought it was going to be hard for her, but I think it was harder for me to let go. She was almost four.  She went to the preschool at our church and was in the VPK program, short for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten. It’s a state funded preschool program. I remember thinking three hours a day, five days a week is just such a long time to be away from my daughter. By the end of the year, those hours and days went by quickly. Before I knew it, she was graduating from VPK.

After VPK I had another first with my daughter, kindergarten. It was the first time going to school all day. I had a hard time leaving my daughter, but my daughter had a harder time letting me go. It was awful the first few weeks of school. My daughter cried every day for me not to leave her. She had a wonderful teacher, so it wasn’t that. She just wanted me to be with her. After a few weeks it got better. It’s just a transition kids have to go through, some more than others.

First, second and third grades weren’t so hard leaving my daughter. Each year it has gotten easier. I think I am more relaxed because I know the school more and I know the teachers better. As a parent, it’s hard letting your kids go to school when you watch the news and see school shootings and kids being bullied. You want to protect your kids, but most of us can’t be at school with our kids and we just have to just trust that they will be safe.

I would say it gets easier with the second child and it does, but I still have had my moments. I remember leaving my second daughter for the first time at preschool and just bawling my eyes out. I was sad because I knew she was the last one I would have go to preschool. Just like with my oldest daughter everything is a first, with my second daughter everything is the last.

I still keep asking myself, “Do I really have a fourth grader and a second grader?” Moms my best advice is if you have young kids, make sure you take the time to enjoy them. You can’t get years back and you can’t make time go any slower. I’ve tried by telling my girls they can’t grow up, but it hasn’t worked yet.