I sat in the car pickup line skimming my email with my index finger as usual when I saw one from my older daughter’s teacher that caught my eye.

The topic caught me off guard – 4th Grade Graduation.

I may or may not have sucked in my breath.

I clicked it open and read…

We will soon be sending our children to middle school.  Each year, we recognize our fourth graders with a special awards ceremony in May. 

There’s no way that this girl is going to middle school in August. She’s just a baby, right?

She just started kindergarten, marching proudly into her classroom wearing her new Hello Kitty sneakers and bright pink princess backpack. She’s still working her way up to chapter books and coloring worksheets and taking naps after lunch, right?

Only she’s not. She’s doing long division and writing reports and telling me about boys who have crushes on her.

She’s still our very first baby girl, there’s no way she’s ready to take on the halls of middle school. But of course I know she is. She’s so excited about it already and today as we drove by the school building she pointed it out, “There’s my school mom!”

Middle school.

(Sob.)

I didn’t cry at her preschool graduation and I didn’t cry on her first day of kindergarten (but I did cry on her first day of first grade, go figure), but I have a sinking feeling I’m going to cry at 4th grade graduation because I may or may not have cried simply reading her teacher’s email today.