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Ten Years
{five days}
Today you are ten. Ten! We’ve been together a decade- both a lifetime and a blink. Enough time to know that I am incredibly lucky to have gotten to hold you so tight while you’ve clung right back onto me. Enough time to realize that there will never be enough time in my lifetime to spend with you.
{one year}
You are just the coolest, kindest, sweetest, most well intentioned child I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I know I’m supposed to be biased, but somehow I really think this is you and not my bias. You’re special.
{two years}
As I was looking up these pumpkin pictures I noticed you are beginning to change. In my mind you are simply you, Guinevere, my Rosie, Gigi-Pigi-squeegee. Your cheeks are all chubby and your body rounded out with baby fat. But I noticed that you’re definitely growing up, getting taller, leaner, stretching out and settling into more grown up looks.
With maturity is also coming a deeper sense of empathy for others and higher expectations for yourself. You never miss a night of homework, are always honest, try your hardest at everything and I see you authentically try to engage with and absorb everything that is expected of you. Your curiosity is still deep and you seem to remember everything you read. Sometimes I worry about you pushing yourself to perfection, but I hope you remember to play. I’ll remind you if you forget.
Today we will get your ears pierced. Back when you were a little toddler we told you when you were ten you could get your ears pierced. At the time, you were uninterested. Later, fear of pain took over and you definitely weren’t interested in piercing at all. Time passed and with it grew a sense of fashion. Suddenly in the past year, pierced ears seem to have grown in importance and you can’t wait to pierce. Your dad and I feel whiplashed, to hardly have offered the decade long bargain when suddenly we are looking for the best jeweler to poke holes in our baby’s ears. That same baby who came out so perfect and complete, just ten short years ago. It’s shocking to have that bet called.
When we were gifted with your life, a coworker held you after you had only been breathing for a matter of hours. She turned to us and said, “You are so lucky. The world needs your children.” I absolutely agree.
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{seven years}
And guess what? The world does need you and so do the people who get inspired by who you are. Your goodness is infectious. You are consistently recognized as a role model for others for citizenship and as a person of character. There’s a reason for all of that. The accolades are nice, but what’s better than that is that you don’t care about the physical objects you receive- the certificates quickly start to gather dust in your room’s corners- you care about the people you bring your sunshine to. Just remember to keep some of that sunshine for your own gray moments. Of course, we will always be here to polish your shine if you need some help.
{8 years}
This year I finally heard you say the words I knew would someday be uttered, “I just love books and I just can’t stop reading!” You read Geronimo Stilton, The Dork Diaries, The Little House series, The Runaway Dolls and ended your ninth year singing the virtues of 68 Rooms. You came alive as a reader this year and, on its tails, a writer. You have a love of words and a unique talent to weave them together beautifully. It warms me to see your fingers tapping away on your latest screenplay, mystery or comic. You also fell in love with Justin Beiber (for his music- she does not have a crush on him) and One Direction. Your first concert was with me, and I think seeing your mom swoon for her old boy band made it ok for you to let a One Direction celebrity crush unfold. You changed your look this year, finally becoming one of the kids who prefers a snappy t-shirt and skinny jeans to pink, frilly dresses or pretty outfits. Fashion is still king, but you’re more about a teenage sense of fashion than that of a little girl anymore. Barbies are still your toy of choice, Minecraft has ruled your iPad this year and you still share a love with your dad and brother of all of the comic book geekery that is now making fifth and sixth grade boys take a second look. Then a third. One even appreciatively commented, “I’ve seriously never met a girl like you,” after learning that you know Star Wars, the Marvel Universe, Adventuretime and video games as well as him. Now he follows you everywhere. You’re oblivious now, but I think this is only the beginning.
{nine years}
More than anything else I want to tell you how much I love you and marvel at you. I want you to know I admire you and honestly think that you are one of the best people I know and will ever know. I wish I could be as good as you are. As pure. As kind. There’s only one other person who shares all of the goodness and beauty your daddy and I could scrape together in the world to create you. You and your brother are our best achievements. We are infinitely proud of you. We hope you know that.
Thank you for gracing our life with yours.
Happy 10th birthday, dear Little Lamb.
{A Simply Stunning Ten Year Old}
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Rainbow-Candy-Circus Party!
10.11.13 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Rainbow-Candy-Circus Party!
Bradley and I became parents ten years ago this coming Sunday. Last night, our resident denarian ushered her single digit status out of her life with a circus/candy/rainbow sleepover party. It was fabulous and I saw her looking like a teenager for the first time ever.
It was strange. I had a moment where I looked at her and saw a little woman. I got momentarily teary, then I heard them start to play truth or dare and shush one another whenever Bradley or I walked near and I remembered. I remembered that exact feeling, like everything important in the world that matters even a smidgen is all right here in this room with these people and there’s no way anyone else could be having a better, more meaningful, more intimate time. Because when you’re ten, sleepovers are epic and laughing with friends means everything.
In that moment, I realized I can let the line slacken. I can trust her. I realized she’s an amazing person who is incredibly capable and is ready to start taking baby steps into the world. Step one happened on Friday: she wanted private time with her girlfriends after 11:00. No brother, no mom, no dad. Just girls ages 7-10. I was glad to leave. I believe in honoring their private time together and am so happy she has such a lovely group of friends to surround herself with. I’m happy she feels confident with these girls. While I’ll never say I’m ready to let her go or let her grow up, tonight was the first time I truly, at last, felt ok with it.
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Family 5K
10.05.13 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Family 5KThis morning we ran the Celebrate Schools 5K. We headed to the Alderwood Mall, got ur race packets and headed to the starting line! The horn blew and we were off! I thought I might be running with my students, or my daughter, or my friend Melissa, or my husband, or Rhiann, but I ended up running with the para educator who works in my classroom. Because I’m Captain Awesome, we call her Super V. I usually call her Lois, but whatever. We ran the entirety together, chatted while we ran and it was really fun. I was glad to have the opportunity to do something non-work with her. As we ran, we saw Rhiann and her daughter, Jude & Bradley, Gigi and her new friend and lots of other people who I teach with, but what was really fun was that it was a ‘there and back’ kind of race! As we ran back we passed people we knew we would cheer and call out to them; there was a distinct sense of community and the race was really fun.
For the most part, the route was pretty flat. There were a few minor hills involved that seemed big on the decline, but the ascent went quickly and painlessly and, of course, we didn’t stop. In fact, the last bit was down a hill so we blasted down and killed our last mile! We finished the race with a time of 32:05. As we passed over the finish line a huge group of my school people cheered us to the end, and we heaved and huffed and hung out, watching the rest of us travel over the finish line. Gigi ended up running with a little girl from my classroom (who will likely now be coming over for play dates) and they finished before we did in 29 minutes, while Bradley and Jude came in about five minutes after Lois and I. Jude did such a great job- Bradley said he ran about 2/3 of the race!
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Running in the Rain
09.30.13 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Running in the Rain
Bradley and I differ over running in the rain. Me? I love it! When it rains, my red hot face has a steady stream of coolness. I don’t feel sweaty, I just assume it’s the rain. My breathing stays even and my oxygen exchange is good. I don’t like running in the heat! The result is that I’ve been running my best times ever over the past few weeks. With the cooler weather and lighter frame, I’m improving daily.
Bradley, on the other hand, wears glasses. Glasses get water spots and get all steamed up. Being the overprotective papa bear that he is means he gets a little nervous when his glasses render him blinder than usual and his wife is trusting him with her life as she trots cluelessly behind him, blasting her headphones and not listening to traffic (running partners like him are awesome, yes, but this is an extra-nice added bonus feature)! Add to that the fact that he’s already fairly low fat and loves the heat like his grandpa! He sometimes tells the story about how Grandpa Kobs would wait for the hottest days to do the hardest work, like taking tires off rims with a crow bar… I’ll pass on that, but Bradley likes to sweat in the heat just like that and chooses 2:PM on hot summer days as the ideal running time.
Fortunately, we are like Persephone and share the glories of the underworld season of hell for one part of the year and the beauty and wonder of softer weather the other half of the year. What is hellish and heavenly weather are opposites for the both of us, but it helps to trot along with someone so enamored of the rain, the heat, the sun, the clouds…
But mostly it’s just nice to run with my best friend, regardless of weather.
