Back to School can be hard on Mamas, and that's okay.

Whether your little one is starting kindergarten or your giant little one is starting college, the feelings are very similar.

You filled out the forms in March and visited the campus. You took all the pictures and got excited...you even thought that it was maybe a bit scary for a minute there, but it was mostly exciting, right?

Cut to the buying of supplies (do you really need a mini fridge in your dorm room? Or will you really be able to carry this gigantic book bag all by your tiny Kindergarten self?), to the summer of bittersweet memory making.

This is the last summer at the cottage before school. This is the last family vacation together; this is the last; this is the last. THIS IS THE LAST.

It’s hard. It’s hard to let go of that tiny hand. Even if the tiny hand you’re letting go of is going to college...it somehow seems tinier still. You’ve spent all of this time (5 years or 18) and love and worry, building a person who can be independent...but it’s hard to let them do that when the time comes.

It’s hard to trust someone else to care enough for your little person. It’s hard to not see their every win or loss up close. It’s hard to not be the center of their world.

It’s hard, letting go. But you can do hard things, my friend.

You built them for this!

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Whether you’re looking at a kindergartner, stepping tentatively into the world without you for the first time - or a college student who’s leaping out of the nest to fly truly on their own.

You taught them to step and to fly. You built them to do this thing, and you did a good job. Otherwise? You wouldn’t be nearly as worried.

Now it’s time to let them do that thing you prepared them for, even though it’s hard.

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Because they are not the only ones you’ve been preparing for this. You didn’t know it, but you’ve been building you, too. Every sleepless night, walking the halls with a sick toddler; every “teachable moment” that left you wondering if you did the right thing; every skinned knee and sore tummy has been hard.

So guess what? You can do hard things.

You filled out the forms in March and visited the campus. You took all the pictures and got excited...you even thought that it was maybe a bit scary for a minute there, but it was mostly exciting, right?

It’s still scary, and it’s still exciting, and you did it. Congrats, mama! Your baby is going to move mountains, and all of your feelings are absolutely valid. You are not alone. Let's celebrate together!

Click to share this with all of the other sad-cited mamas out there this Fall. It’s not easy to let go, but it’s beautiful to watch your little (or big) person soar.