Is My Kid Ready for Middle School? Am I?

This week on Care & Feeding, Elizabeth and Lucy respond to a listener wondering how to help their child—and themselves—prepare for the leap to middle school. The hosts share practical tips and emotional insights on everything from shifting friendships to growing independence, academic pressure, and those moments when your once-chatty kid starts speaking in shrugs.

They unpack how to build trust without hovering, how to guide without gripping too tight, and why middle school can feel like both a beginning and an ending for parents, too.

Plus: Reflections on the emotional weight of parenting costs, and a conversation about how the world needs to make more room for kids just being kids.

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Produced by Palace Shaw

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