Accomplishments

Today is the last day of my daughter's first year of middle school. There were so many new things ahead of us last August when she started school. I think I was more nervous than she was. She jumped right into middle school and conquered it with flying colors. There are so many accomplishments I want to share with you - but I will get to that in a moment. You know the old saying they say "Kids grow up so fast?" It is so true. I am finding as our kids get older the time flies by even faster. I feel like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and in a few short hours she will "officially" be a 7th grader. My sweet angel that took me 4 years to conceive has 5 years left until she is an adult. (Momma is getting weepy)

This year I made several accomplishments myself. I am an over OVER OVER protective mother and this year I had to do some letting go. I know the months and years ahead of us will call for more of my letting go - I don't think I am truly ready for it - but I also know I cannot hold my child back. (Teary, teary eyes)

One of the first things I noticed that my daughter was growing up was by her school pictures this year. As I went to put her Fall 07 picture in the picture frame I compared it to the Fall 06 picture. In the Fall 06 picture she looked like a little 5th grader - so sweet and young. In her Fall 07 picture she had highlighted hair and no glasses - she totally looks like a young lady.

In elementary school she loved being a "parent pick up" or "car rider". She would beg me to get off early so that she could ride home with ME. I am heavily involved in the PTA and there were several days where I had to be at an event before or after school and I would tell her that she could ride with me to or from school. She would tell me that she would just ride the bus with her friends. =( I am still number one to her at home but I knew sooner or later her friends would become the cats meow to her.

So for some of her accomplishments:

* She started wearing contacts which I was a little leery about her doing. The first few weeks I believe she tore 3 pairs but ever since then she has done a wonderful job with them. She does a great job taking them out and putting them in each day. Great job K!

* In elementary school I would have to wake her up each morning, pick our her clothes, make her breakfast, brush her hair and remind her to put on deo and brush her teeth. Now this year she has been incredibly responsible by getting up with an alarm, picking out her own clothes (apparently I am not the fashion queen for her that I thought I was), she does her own hair, makes her own breakfast (she doesn't want me to do it). I still have to give the deo and brush your teeth reminders. =)

* She got a cell phone when school started which I was also a little leery about. She has been incredibly responsible with it as well. She only "lost" it once inside the house (of course the ringer was off so that is why it was so hard to find). She also did a fabulous job with her cell phone minutes. We opted for the Kajeet service which I highly recommend for small children. (www.kajeet.com) With Kajeet parents have all the control of the phone through the Internet. I can select the hours the phone is on, who she can and cannot receive calls from, etc. It was only costing me about $10 a month for the service. That is until she discovered texting with her friends. Now it costs me about $30 a month, which includes an unlimited texting pack. Still over all a great job with the phone.

* Her most major accomplishment is she carried a 4.0 gpa the whole school year long. She could not wait to get out of elementary school so that she could start getting "letter" grades opposed to numbers. My husband and I are strict with our kids about their education. We do not expect a 4.0 gpa but we do expect them to complete their work on time and to do it to the best of their ability. K took it upon herself to get all A's. She did extra credit when it was offered. She would bring home big assignments in order to give them that extra mile that she would not be able to if she just finished them in class. She was also extremely organized in her binder and for the most part brought home the needed materials to complete an assignment. I am very proud of her and I hope she continues to have those high expectations of herself as she continues her education.

I am glad this school year has come to a close. I think our kids all work so hard in school and deserve the summer break that they get. They need the time to relax their minds and have some fun - they have their whole adulthood to work. So to children everywhere have a great and safe summer! I think parents also deserve the break. Whether you are helping with homework or volunteering at school - we need the break to have some free time to ourselves as well. So parents enjoy the summer too!