Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The Post In Which Mia Turns 8 and Drops the Miss


The Original"Miss Mia"

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…!”
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…
You and Toby, looking tough in the new outfit you bought for your birthday

 
...Just Joking...not really so Tough

Always and forever...my little girl
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