I have been SM to SD13 for almost five years. Met her when she was just a little twerp. We have been to hell and back with BM and SD has been put through the wringer at times in her life due to circumstances beyond her control. WELL, the time has come for high school orientation and we are taking her and then taking her out to dinner. She is excited, and we are excited. I am so proud of her and SO EXCITED for her to start this final schooling chapter. I hope these are the best 4 years she has had so far in her life and we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that happens. I swear to god, we have worked so hard and if anyone or anything gets in the way of her happiness, we are going to give her the tools to fix it and we are going to help her fix it. Ok I will get off my soap box now.

My problem: if MIL tells me/DH/SD one more time how 'sad' it is that SD is starting high school next year, I'm going to explode. She actually thinks SD getting older is the worst thing that could ever happen (?? let's just ignore biology and reality?) Just. No.