As a mum, I thought I was ready for the end of the school year. I had my checklist: class party snacks, end-of-year gifts, the perfectly timed dash to get those donuts before school closed… but what I wasn’t prepared for was the flood of emotions from my youngest – and if I’m honest, from myself too.

My five-year-old has been feeling it all deeply. This is the first time he’s truly grasped what it means to say goodbye. Goodbye to teachers who have become second mums, goodbye to friends who are moving schools, cities, even countries. He’s been coming home with questions, sometimes tears, and that classic emotional outburst that only a five-year-old can pull off – all because, in his little heart, things are changing and he doesn’t quite know how to make sense of it.

The end-of-year school plays were the tipping point for me. Watching these children, including my own, stand on stage with confidence, singing, acting, narrating – you can’t help but feel proud. You see just how much they’ve grown. The once-shy toddlers are now telling jokes into a mic or dancing with flair and joy. The pride they carry in their performance is shining proof of how much they’ve learned, not just academically, but emotionally. They’ve grown roots in this small world they’ve built at school… and now it’s time for change.

And that’s where it hits hard – the baby years are slipping away.

There’s something gutting about realising that your last baby is no longer the baby. That their world is expanding beyond cuddles and crayons and into goodbyes, friendships, and first brushes with sadness. It’s beautiful. It’s necessary. But it’s hard.

So we’re holding space for all the emotions right now – the pride, the sadness, the excitement for summer, the ache of growing up. And most of all, we’re reminding ourselves (and our little ones) that it’s okay to feel all of it. Because growing up isn’t just about getting taller. It’s about learning to love, to let go, and to leap into what comes next.