Sunday, January 21, 2018

Happy 7th Birthday to my Eternal Optimist

I haven’t been able to step into a toy store or our local Walmart for over a week now.  With Miss Mia’s birthday on the horizon everything I see is something she would LOVE and my mom brain immediately reaches to buy it for her.  I had the same problem at Christmas – I had to stop my Christmas shopping by mid November because I seemed to just keep buying things for HER.

Mia, my conclusion might simply be that you are easy to buy for.  But I think it stretches beyond that.  You exude joy and love and wonder.   I see your zest for life in everything that surrounds me.  In even the most ordinary of stores I find treasures that I know will light up your face.

Sometimes your joy and zest for life is under appreciated.  You have the unfortunate position in our family as being a morning person.  So does your dad.  Unfortunately, though, dad leaves the house at 7am, leaving you and your joy to contend with the likes of Toby and me who are NOT morning people.  It’s a daily struggle for you to keep your positive nature unscathed. Sometimes, while Toby tries his best to swallow yoghurt through his scowl, you sing boisterously and bounce on your stool beside him.  This doesn’t go over well.  Other times, you enthusiastically ask me questions, questions and more questions from the side of my bed as I beg my eyes to open.  This also, is often not met by the response you so desire.
                                             
We have yet to tame the enthusiastic joy of Morning Mia.

Other mornings you bounce downstairs and surprise me by making lunches for yourself and Toby.  Granted, a wee bit of correcting must then take place (your ideal lunch would consist of fruit, fruit roll ups, cookies and a chocolate) but it’s the enthusiasm that counts.

You approach almost everything in life with the same enthusiasm: a majestic grin fast paced determination and eternal optimism.   I say ALMOST everything because we have discovered a few things that do not evoke this predictable behaviour: being asked to come home from Jack’s house, being denied a play date because of Toby’s hockey schedule, and Friday night Clippers.

I get it.  You’re tired on Friday.  The last thing that I would want to do on Friday after a long week of being an eternal hardworking optimist is to change into a bathing suit and go swimming.  You fight us on this EVERY week.  Unless jack is going and then, of course, you go joyfully and without discussion.

  The other Friday, Daddy put his foot down and you got the lecture on Commitment and Following Through With Things and Being Part of a Team blah blah blah...  Though this often works on Toby, you were having NONE of it.  You grumbled ALL the WAY to the pool, which was a full 3 minutes of my life I will never get back.   It was just SO not you that I was actually concerned and felt immensely guilty. An hour later when I was back to pick you up the old Mia was back.  After your shower (you very independently dress, undress and shower yourself – something your brother could have NEVER done at your age!) you BOUNCED into the car full of vim and vigour.  “WOW, Mommy that was the BEST SWIMMING LESSON EVER!  We went into the warm pool and played GAMES!  It was SO FUN it was the BEST NIGHT of my LIFE.”

Clearly, though you are old enough to know how to wash your own hair, you haven’t quite caught on to the art of subtlety.  You then went on to tell me that I had had the right thoughts in my head and that you hadn’t.  You had had “WRONG THOUGHTS about swimming” and then you thanked me for making you go.

Wow.  I have a feeling that things aren’t going to go this smoothly when you’re a teenager. 

The other night at dinner Toby made us play a game where we all picked a “Theme song” for our life.  Toby picked “Fight song”.  He finds it relates to what he thinks in his head when he plays hockey.  (Obviously.)  Daddy picked “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent because it reminds him to make the most of every moment.   I chose “Love is Louder” by Craig Cardiff because its message is that at the end of the day the only thing that matters is love.   And finally it was your turn.  You chose the opening instrumental piece from the movie Inside Out.  You said it was from the part in the film when Joy was born and you feel like you can relate to Joy because you are happy.  We sat there, all 4 of us in silence as we listened to this wonderful piece of music.  It was beautiful and soft, and hopeful, and joyful.  It was you in a piece of music.  What a clever girl you are, to have picked something so uniquely perfect as your theme song. 

I hope for you, sweet girl, that this will always be the music that you hear in your soul.  I hope the world gives back to you the joy you so eagerly give to it.

When Daddy and I got married many people gave speeches.   They told stories that were long and funny and filled with anecdotes about us.  All except for Grandpa Boyd.  A man of literature and infinite wisdom, Grandpa Boyd skipped the verbosity and said only one sentence – a quotation from his favourite author William Blake.

“Exuberance is beauty.”

It is one of the greatest gratitudes of my life to know that I have a daughter that can live up to his prophecy.   Happy 7th Birthday, Miss Mia.

You and Papa enjoying a game of Chocolate Tic Tac Toe at the Teddington last Weekend

Your 7th Birthday Party at The Paint Bar

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