Goodbye Middle School Era

We are finally at the point of saying goodbye to the middle school years.  The youngest is finishing up her week after three long years of a very difficult journey.  In my opinion, the middle school years are frustrating.  It's the bridge between the fun, innocent elementary days and the demanding, independence of high school.  It's when hormones change, the pressure to fit in is at a high and confusion of where do I belong sets in.  And let's be honest, middle school kids are mean.  

For my daughter, she has still yet to care about fitting in and following the crowd.  She has no desire to be among the popular girls and proudly chooses to dress and act as she wants.  Unfortunately, this means that she's been a victim of some bullying from those who do strive to be like everyone else.  It's also meant losing some of the friends she's been close to during the elementary days.  She's also made new friends.  The season of middle school had been a struggle but I always assure her these experiences she faces will be part of her testimony.  

I remember those dreadful middle school days and they were definitely the worst years for me.  It was especially hard because of having to move to a different school in a different state in the midst of it.  I don't think I completely healed from that shock, to be honest.  

After longing for these middle school years to end she's beginning to feel some sadness about letting it go.  She's mixed with both excitement and fear about entering high school.  I'm stuck wondering if it was right to send my kids to school or if the homeschool route would have been better.  They are growing up so fast and are learning things I'm not quite sure I want them learning in a way I don't want them finding out.   The educational system is a mess, let's be honest.  But my husband and I do our best to make sure our kids know how to find the truth and so far they've been wise to it.  It hurts watching them grow up.  The years do go by too fast.