I laughed when I saw a saying my oldest daughter shared on Facebook.

It said, May-Cember — When May is busier than December, but there aren’t any presents.

As a mother of two young sons, she is realizing like all of us “old” moms have already experienced, the end of a school year is just as busy if not busier than the Christmas season.

There are end of the year school parties, recitals, awards ceremonies and, when you have a high school senior, there is graduation and all it entails.

May is a busy time of year, but it is also a time of celebration when a little one moves to the next grade, an elementary school student graduates to junior high or when a student wraps up their final year of high school.

No matter the phase of achievement, seeing your child accomplish one goal and move to the next is significant.

So I would encourage parents, that while this time of year might be a whirlwind, don’t let its busyness keep you from enjoying every minute of your child’s successes.

Now that I am a grandmother, I look at my oldest grandchildren who will be entering the first and second grades and hope their parents realize how fast time flies — because in the big scheme of life, we don’t have them that long.

So cherish every moment, especially milestones.

I will never forget when that oldest daughter of mine walked out onto the Warren Central High School football field as “Pomp and Circumstance” was being played.

It had never occurred to me how emotional I would feel.

While I felt proud to see her achieve this goal, it was also occurring to me that my little girl would officially be leaving home.

That’s when the tears started pouring out of my eyes, and I had not even brought a tissue. 

I have since graduated three more children and, as with the first, the tears flowed.

Thankfully I had come prepared with Kleenexes tucked inside my purse.

High school graduation is one of the biggest milestones any student can achieve.

In just 12 short years, kids have had to prepare for life, academically, as well as socially.

For those going on to college, there will no longer be mom or dad making sure homework is done or curfews upheld.

And for students moving right into the job market, they too will have to manage on their own. Showing up late for work because they didn’t hear the alarm buzz, is not quite the same as being tardy for school.

I remember when I graduated from high school. I had such a feeling of accomplishment. I also had a little apprehension, like, was I really prepared to move to the next level and function outside of the only life I had ever known?

What if I screw it up?

This week, I heard a brief clip of “Today Show” co-host Savannah Guthrie’s commencement speech she had given to the graduating class at George Washington University. While the words were inspiring for those students, I think they could apply to any of us.

“Don’t worry so much,” she said. “Things have a way of working out and life can handle a few of your missteps — event your biggies. The times you ruined your life — you didn’t. You may leave your path but your path doesn’t leave you.”

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. Her column appears each Friday. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.