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| The Original"Miss Mia" |
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| Miss Mia the Young Lady |
Dear Miss Mia – this 8ths birthday landmark may just be the
year that you lose your nickname.
Not
that you are officially a “Mrs.” yet (you and Jack are still very much the best
of friends but the romance has faded and there have been no impromptu surprise
weddings…).
I feel that you no longer
warrant the “Miss” in front of your name because of the speed at which you have
matured this year…it has truly been astounding.
As you know, I was privileged to have gone to an all girls'
school whose motto is “Girls Can do Anything”.
I grew up with that mantra. I
didn’t hear it running through my head as I did difficult things- I just DID
things. I did everything I wanted to d with an innocent confidence that I simply
COULD. It has been just over this past
year, as I have watched the amazingness in you continue to blossom, that I have
started to wonder how I instill in you (without having to send you away to
boarding school), that same innate message.
This year you are in a grade 2-3 split. There is only one other grade 2 girl in the
class. You have a table with 4 other
grade 2 boys all of whom “Talk too much” but based on your stories I get the
sneaky suspicion that they don’t talk as much having you at the desk. You are reading Harry Potter (and LOVING It)
and enjoy nothing more than pulling out a good Ivy and Bean book and reading it
to you under the blanket on the couch.
I’ve told daddy for years that you are an exceptionally good reader but
it wasn’t until he was practicing one of his “Standardized reading tests’ ON
you that he came to me, wide open mouthed and said, “Whoa." Mia is a REALLY GOOD READER.” It takes a lot
to impress your Daddy. You definitely
get some points for that one.
You love food and your palate is exceptional. We went to Chicago this summer as a family
and on the last night had an “adult” dinner at the Purple Pig. Dad and I had a rule that we would order
SEVERAL dishes and everyone had to try EVERYTHING and then give it a critical
thumbs up or thumbs down. (The rule was
there to ensure that your older brother actually ate something.) I have a feeling I could take you out to a
gourmet 18 course menu and you would keep up with the rest of us. Your favourite thing on the menu was PIGS
EARS. There was a perilous moment, after
we told you what it was that you had just devoured, when you asked, “Are they
ACTAULLY the EARS of PIGS that I just ate?”
I looked at Daddy for his consent before I admitted that they were.
“OH, wow,” you shrugged, “That’s cool! My new favourite food
is Pigs ears…who would have thought…!”
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| Pigs ears got 2 Thumbs Up from You...and Toby played along too...reluctantly |
It was also on this trip that we decided you were old enough
to learn the 4 essential family card games: Hearts, Euchre, Mexican poker and
Oh Shit. (In exact order of your
learning…) We just kept moving up the ranks after you grasped each one…until
finally we looked at each other and said,
“Is she ready for
it?”
“I think she might be…”
“Should we change the
name?” “
Nah…what the heck…lets just go for it”
And before you knew
it we were all losing to you at Oh Shit…
I t’s astounding to me that a 7 year old such as yourself is
not only able to grasp the concept of all of the above card games but also able
to kick our butts at them. The new
family joke is now that you “always win”.
I know your secret, Mia. You’re a
card shark. (And one bright cookie…)
One day I bought you a sign that says “ She thought she
could and so she did.” True to my own
character it made it as far as your room but I never got around to hanging it
up. One day after Alex and I found a
new/used desk for you sitting by the curb of one of our neighbors' house, you
got to work immediately at redecorating your room. It took me a full week to realize that you
had found your own place for you sign - ingeniously balancing on top of the top
shelf. It is the centerpiece of your
room. You’ve always had a knack for
redecorating.
Before I get kicked off line for bragging too much…also this
year I enrolled you in basketball. You LOVED It.
You don’t give a shit that you don’t really actually know how to
sprint. Your skip is enthusiastic and
confident and you rock the skip/run/dribble of your own unique basketball
style. And you didn’t even care that you
had to take your earrings out before each practice.
This summer, you played soccer. Daddy was your coach (as always) and would
regularly pull his hair out. (Sorry…)
Your team rocked the cartwheels but didn’t win a single game. Often the score was an obscenely high number
to NOTHING. But you taught the girls on
your team some amazing cheers. You LOVED
soccer and firmly believe that daddy is the best coach in the league.
This Christmas I told Daddy that, for the first time since
you and your bother were born, I wanted to get you a present that was just from
me…I had found you a photography book called
“Strong is the new pretty”. It’s
a beautiful book featuring photos of young girls of all ages doing things they
love to do with quotations from them about how kick ass they are. I wasn’t sure you were ready for it. I didn’t know if the book would hold the same
meaning for you as it did for me to give it to you.
On Christmas day you opened the gift and read the
inscription,
“’Mia – every girl in
this book reminds me of you. Girls can
do anything. I am proud to be your
mommy, xo mom”
You glanced through it and then sat down on the couch,
ignoring every other present that was still waiting for you under the tree, and
pored through it.
I wondered if you somehow were doing it to make me feel good. But every morning since then, I find that book
in your hands first thing when you wake up.
Tonight as I was putting you to bed, I found it tucked under your
pillow. You have earmarked several
pages.
I may never be able to send you to a fancy private school
and I don’ t know that I can expose you to the number of sports and musical
opportunities that I had the privilege of being a part of. But I can tell already, my smart, curious,
independent and strong little girl, that the concept that girls can do anything
is going to reverberate through your head every step of the way. It’s already in there in the quiet
confidence you have as you approach even the most daunting of tasks. I couldn’t be more proud of you….
Happy 8th birthday, Mia. From this day forward I’m dropping the Miss…
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| You and Toby, looking tough in the new outfit you bought for your birthday |
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| ...Just Joking...not really so Tough |
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| Always and forever...my little girl |
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