Back to school....

In 5 days, my oldest daughter will be starting middle school. She can hardly wait. I on the other hand, am not quite ready. I hadn't really thought about all the issues that came along with them until recently, and
there are a lot.

- Clothes. Within the past two weeks she has completely out grown, almost her up entire wardrobe. I hadn't really wanted to buy her new clothes until it got colder, but she can go to school with out pants. Thank goodness for resale shops!

-Friends. We all want out kid to be liked, have lots of friends, and not be lonely. If you know my daughter, she's not really a quite kind of kid, she's talkative, and brave and great at making new friends. Not  like me at that age at all. 

- Social media. Through recent church, and school functions it has been made clear that Facebook, and Instagram are fairly normal things for a child in middle schoool to have. I guess I missed that memo, cause last I checked, she was eleven, and still very innocent. She still needs to be supervised on the Internet at this point. Wow have times changed!

-Cell phones. Again while attending a church choir function, it was made to seem normal that the kids all had cell phones, and were to text there mothers to be picked up. And at school orientation this morning, I listend to the principal tell the parents how the text books were out date, and expensive to keep up with, so while they were handing them out to us, they would serve better as a door stop. He then went on to tell us, that cell phones were allowed at school, AND in class, and actually encouraged by some teachers???? What??? They can use them for and educational device, to do research, during class, or during any other point  during school, beside the locker room, or bathroom. What about the kids that don't have cell phone, or the kids that have control freak protective parents, and don't want them on the Internet unsupervised. They won't be texting, or calling there friends, or getting on Facebook during school, because they said " your not allowed to". Not sure who that's going to stop, or how my child is to do the work with out one. After a lengthy phone call with my parents, whom suggested talking to the principal, I'm even more sure about sticking to my guns! I'm also quite sure when I hung up with them, they had a little toast to me, getting what I deserve as a parent after all the crud I put them through, as a teenager  ;) 

-Boys. Enough said

-Mean girls. 

-And about 59 other worries

I know this... God is good, and he will watch over my child. While I want to protect her from the nasty things girls say, boys, bad teachers, and hard home work... I know I can't....and I trust that God can, and that he will be holding her hand every day of every year from here on out. I just pray that we raised her with good morals and values to make good decisions!

Ashlyn is just like my father, a planner. She has been so excited for school that she picked out what she was going to wear for today's orientation, while that's fine, and normal, Ashlyn went a BIT overboard. This is what I found when I came in to wake her up this morning.  

Her backpack and school supply bag ready to go. She had her new Keds, with perfume in one shoe, and lip gloss on the other, and her earrings laying on top. A necklace hanging from her plant. Her shorts on the bottom rung of her nightstand ladder. Her tank and bra on the next. On top of that was a strip of paper she had cut out and written with "shirt in dryer". There were several other strips with reminders of things to do. So cute, and very well thought out. Luckily she looked darling, so her hard work paid off. 

I can't wait to see what God has in store for her this year.