Don’t show up at graduation with a long list of regrets. Take the time now.

On one corner of my desk sits a tiny yellow t-shirt. Printed on the front is a picture of a Precious Moments® graduate and the message: “Class of 1999—the last class of the 1900s.” We unearthed it during a hunt for the toys and treasures we’d tucked away years ago for a future—and now present—grandchild.

I still remember the day my daughter’s kindergarten teacher handed out those T-shirts.

“How cute,” is what we parents said. “Imagine that!”

“No way,” is what we thought. “No way will the end of the millennium arrive in my lifetime. No way will I ever be old enough to parent a teen. No way will these adorable tots ever grow tall and talented enough to fill out a graduation gown.”

We were wrong, of course. The class of ’99 graduated amidst the furor of Y2K predictions. Even more astounding, that graduate is now a mother, herself, of the most enchanting member of the class of 2025.

Today, 2025 seems like an impossibly distant date. But that little T-shirt reminds me that before I know it our grandbaby Nellie will be marching through some packed auditorium to strains of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

First, though, I have to survive my own “baby’s” senior year. We’re rushing headlong into a stress-filled year of AP classes, college visits and a string of “last” events. One last year to log high school credit. One last chance to make her mark. One final opportunity to snag the skills on which she will build her future.

Looking back, I fear that we parents too often squander the time when our children are in school, because we think they’ll be there forever. Is my daughter not catching on to fourth-grade math? No problem, she’ll get it eventually.

Do I suspect my son’s not learning anything from this year’s teacher? Oh well, not every teacher can be great. He can make it up with a good teacher next year.

Our busy lives leave little time for long homework sessions. And school politics? Who wants to mess with that? Maybe next year, we say, or the year after that.

As we fly through our work days and evenings packed with exercise, errands and chores, it’s easy to dismiss the needs of our kids. We risk a lot when we do. After all, they only get one chance to learn ninth-grade science; only one chance at mastering advanced math.

And we only get one chance to help them find where they can shine. We recklessly reason that it won’t matter if we miss a performance or two; we console ourselves that there will always be another game, another season, another chance to get involved.

But we’re wrong. The day is coming—faster than we think—when there won’t be another anything, at least not at school.

Take it from a mother in the midst of a whirlwind countdown to launch. If you don’t want to show up at graduation with a long list of regrets, start now to make the most of every school year.

As October gears up, take the time to know what your child is learning. Get to know the teachers who will spend more time with your child than you do most weeks. Encourage your child to try something new and vow to be there, win or lose.

I hate to be tedious, but it has to be said: They do grow up before you know it. And I’ve got the T-shirt to prove it.

Looking for help?
Check out the book, “Straight Talk About Schools Today: 101 Q&A’s for Parents” (Free Spirit, $15.95). In an easy-to-follow Q&A style, award-winning teacher Judy Molland takes you by the hand and guides you through the system: understanding how public and private education works in the United States, choosing a school, making sense of grades and report cards, the No Child Left Behind act, standardized tests, your rights as a parent, and more. Includes a glossary of “edu-speak” terms, resources, and plenty of encouragement.

Special education resources: www.causeonline.org, www.schwablearning.org, www.projectfindmichigan.org, or call 800-252-0052.

Michigan’s new high school graduation requirements, in effect for the class of 2011: .

Resources for students who are gifted and talented: www.michigan.gov/gifted, www.migiftedchild.org.

Information about the MegaSkills every child needs for success (and how to build them at home!): www.megaskillshsi.org.