Grade School in a box

I have a box for each grade of elementary school for my girls.  I label it on the end with a sharpie and stick it on a shelf in the garage.  At the end of elementary school I go through all the boxes for that child and combine them into one "Elementary Years" box.  I just finished doing Emma's.  Yeah, I know, I'm almost an entire year behind.  But I got it done and here is the finished product.

I decided to write the names of all of her teachers on the outside of the box. As I wrote each name I became a bit nostalgic about it all.  How grateful I am to each of those teachers.  They gave of their time so selflessly to teach my child how to read, how to write, how to form sentences and paragraphs.  Most teachers work way more than their 40 hours and many of Emma's teachers were no exception to that.  Inside the box are 3 years of science fair pictures with her project.  Certificates of Battle of the books, and even a Presidential Scholar award.

It's was good for me to see all this.  Especially since she has really struggled with 6th grade.  I was reminded of how capable, smart and amazing she is.  Stuff I know but gets shoved aside as you battle with homework and projects not getting done.

So now I'm putting the box on the shelf.  Those elementary years are behind her and she is moving on to bigger and better stuff. 

And I cry.  That's what moms do when their baby's grow up.  I just can't help it.