A few weeks ago a Carnival was in town and my oldest daughter begged me to take her. I had a thousand excuses lined up - because to be quite honest, I am not a fan of the overpriced/unsafe rides or the clusters of teenagers that have zero concept of personal space - but instead, I dragged the whole family out for some old school fun.

We waited in line for longer than we stood there, thanks to the cold Massachusetts spring! But, while we were there I got to snap a few pictures of my girl and it made me realize how grown she is! And as I sit here typing this, tears are falling down my face - again - because I am not ready to accept that my baby is not a baby anymore.

Today I have her middle school orientation, and the thought of having her in a huge school scares me. She is naive, she's sweet and she is completely sheltered. I have always felt this bittersweet feeling about milestones, but this one is hitting me differently for sure. Middle School marks the beginning of the end of their childhood. It's a time of discovery, maturing and going from children to teenagers and I am not ready for that! How did that even happen? Where did six years of elementary school go? Will she be ok? I have so many questions and worries. But as a parent, all we can do is teach our children right from wrong and pray they will make the right choices right? We have to let them grow their wings, but the world is such a scary place these days, and kids can be so cruel...

So I will cherish every moment I have, I will take her to all of the places I can, I will do as many day trips, activities and fun things our schedules allows us this summer. Because time is a thief, and I know the next few years will go even faster. And one day, when I wake up to an empty nest, I will wish I went to one more Carnival, ate one more cotton candy and went to one more unsafe ride with my kids!