February is a month that calls our attention to LOVE. Just walk into any grocery store, and you’ll be inundated by a red and pink haze. Flowers, chocolates, greeting cards, and stuffed animals abound, which may or may not appeal to you. Even if this isn’t your scene, the beautiful thing about LOVE is that it comes in limitless forms—in a significant other, family, friendships, and our loyal, little fur babies. For me, the truest form that I have ever, or will ever find, is in that of being a parent. Of being a mom.

From the time we see their squishy little face, the slow, careful ride home, their first steps that scare us, or driving away on the first day of kindergarten: every step of the way is both incredible and terrifying, all at the same time. These beautiful little creatures grow and change at an amazing rate. Just as soon as we think we have one phase figured out, they are on to the next phase we have no knowledge about. We soon learn that being a parent is trial and error, sometimes learning the hard way, and growing right alongside them. We have to navigate all the fears that stem from watching our hearts now walk around OUTSIDE of our bodies. No matter how cliché it sounds, we realize how fast the time is really flying by. And we start to dread the day when our babies will leave the nest and start relying on their own wings. 

Prepare for their future with a 529

There are some things that I don’t think we can ever really prepare for, like when our daughter brings her first date home. But luckily, there are others that we can prepare for, like her future education. When our daughter was very young, we opened an account for her in the GET Prepaid Tuition Plan. The payments come out automatically each month, and I LOVE that we don’t have to give it a second thought. We find peace of mind knowing that her savings are growing, ready for whatever higher education she chooses when the time comes.

Although it would be hard on my “mama heart” if she decides to fly far from the nest, she will be able to choose from a variety of colleges across the U.S. If a university isn’t the path she chooses, she can even use her GET funds at a wide variety of trade schools, apprenticeships, and certifications. Regardless of where her sassy soul takes her, I LOVE that so many options are open to her when she continues her education using her GET savings. Most of all, I hope she always follows her heart.