Graduates, Go Forth and Multiply!

And divide. And skin a knee. And let middle school be a world of wonder and surprise

Ron Chapple / Taxi / Getty

Graduation day is made for pride and prizes and unsolicited advice that will be lost in the fizz of the moment and recycled years later. I figure that by the time my girls are done with college--or maybe even high school--it will be way too late to make an impression on them. But my youngest girl's class's upcoming Fourth Grade Recognition Day, the end of lower school, the lip of higher learning, is a chance to catch her on her way and hand her a compass and a map.

I sometimes think she's already way ahead of me. The world comes...

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