My dad still calls me his baby girl. I am like 40 years old…but he will call me and say: “Baby Girl….what have you been up to.” I’ts so sweet. And now that that I am a mom of 4 kids, I totally understand.  Our youngest is five years old.  And no matter how old she gets, she will always be my “Baby Girl.”

Every time she passes a major milestone in life,  I am so proud of what my baby girl has accomplished and happy to see her achieve yet another milestone.  But, deep down in side, I am a little sad and I am saying to myself:  “My baby is growing up. She’s not a baby anymore.”  And, I literally have to catch myself when I try to sabotage her progress and her growth by babying her and keeping her too dependent on me.  But now, I know why people often say that the ‘youngest’ is always spoiled and can get away with murder. (Of course I am not like that…although I have heard my older sister say something to that effect about me…..Go figure!)

And now that she is five years old, my heart strings are constantly being pulled as, every time I turn around, she is showing me something new that she can do:  She is riding her bike with no training wheels, she is swinging on the swing set with no one pushing her, she has her very first loose tooth. And in 2.5 short weeks, she will be attending her first day of Kindergarten.  And I can already feel the tears welling up inside of me.

Hallmark is going to be with me every step of the way this school year, especially with their line of Kids Encouragement cards that have perfect words of encouragement for every goal and occasion:

No doubt. No question. No Problem. No-brainer.  You can totally do this.

BMWK – what major milestones are your kids crossing this year?  Do you think the youngest child gets spoiled?

Each new day provides you with an opportunity to have special moments with your family.

Disclosure:     This post is part of a series about Back to School encouragement that is sponsored by Hallmark.  All opinions and editorial content expressed are my own.