Year Twelve - Year End Review

Happy 12th birthday, my favorite peach! 

You're officially a tweenager, but because the world is the way it is (crazy and bananas and ridiculous), you're a quarantweenager. Life certainly looks different in the midst of a global pandemic but Top 10 Lists are as certain as the sun rising.

Top 10 Things You Love

1. Singing (your arms are probably tired from carrying all those buckets full of tunes) 
2. Watching TV 
3. Curling up in your bed and reading
4. Studio C, Mark Rober, and Dude Perfect YouTube channels
5. A wide assortment of foods - your current favorites are sushi, spaghetti, soup (specifically tomato and chicken and rice), soft pretzels, and Oreo pie
6. Your friends
7. Your family (cue the angels singing!)
8. Looking at your baby pictures and/or watching videos from when you were little
9. Drawing (something on the Top 10 List of Things Mommy Loves is watching you draw)
10. Ice skating

Top 10 Things You Don’t Love

1. Chores (I mean, is there a kid who loves chores? Maybe. But you’re definitely not one of those kids)
2. Learning something new and hard
3. Having to spend more than three minutes to understand the aforementioned new and hard thing
4. Being corrected
5. Babysitting (I mean, you’ve never babysat before, but since younger kids aren’t your jam, this would most likely be a miserable job for you)
6. When I make any other fish except salmon (in your defense, I have a 0% success rate when making non-salmon fish dishes …)
7. Math (how many years has math been on this list?)
8. Accepting that Charlie is better at certain things than you
9. Decimals (oh, the angst when I explained how decimals are everywhere and you’d better figure out how to tolerate them)
10. Being around people who argue (it even upsets you when you and Charlie argue .. Daddy and I keep telling you that disagreements and arguments are normal and inevitable. People are messy, man)

Top 10 Things You're Good At

1. Performing on stage (I know I’m biased, but you’re pretty captivating to watch)
2. Drawing, especially cartoons 
3. Talking fast (all four of us talk fast - probably too fast)
4. Math (and how many years has math also been on this list?)
5. Keeping your room clean
6. Physical activities like running, rock climbing, and swimming
7. Being responsible (I often say that for an 11-year-old, you make a terrible adult … but, in many cases, you show maturity well past your 11 years)
8. Making beautiful cards for your friends and family
9. Landing a joke (the sarcastic apple didn't have very far to fall from the sarcastic tree)
10. Writing stories (all that book readin’ you insist upon doing has turned you into quite the little storyteller)

Top 10 Things You're Not Good At

1. Not being included in conversations
2. Extending yourself grace when you make mistakes
3. Finishing the Barkley Marathon
4. Answering open-ended questions in school (How am I supposed to know what this author was thinking and feeling? How am I supposed to imagine how it feels to go through a situation that I’ve never experienced?!)
5. Doing things you don’t love without an eye roll and/or a dramatic sigh
6. Performing knee replacement surgery
7. Not getting derailed by a tough day in math
8. Solving a Rubik’s cube with your feet
9. Not whining when it’s time to do chores
10. Juggling 10 flaming bowling pins

2020 was such a mess, amiright? COVID-19 arrived and the world practically turned upside down in March. Our homeschool group switched to virtual classes for the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year. (Your verdict? Two very enthusiastic thumbs down). You didn’t see your friends face-to-face for months. (Two more thumbs down). You missed your spring drama performance (Thumbs down count is now up to six). Daddy and I got COVID in August - and we assume you and Charlie had it too - and we were isolated for 24 days. (Too many downed thumbs to count).

I’ve said this so many times over the past nine months and I’ll keep saying it (because I also need to be reminded of this myself), there is always something to be thankful for. And as dumpster fiery as 2020 was, there are so many good things that happened, too.

• We’ve had more family time - so more hikes, more bike rides, more game nights, etc
• Daddy’s commute reduced to 60 seconds (75 seconds, if there’s a pileup on the 6th stair) so we see him more each day
• We’ve experienced God’s protection firsthand (Daddy’s job stayed steady; Daddy and I only had bad COVID symptoms overlap for one day; your symptoms were extremely mild - a low-grade fever and a sore throat)
• We've talked to our neighbors more
• Online church certainly isn’t my preference but we’ve had some really great, deep conversations about Jesus because we have the luxury of pausing the sermon if you and Charlie have questions

You starred in Junie B. Jones in December. We never really read those books when you were younger - mainly because I didn’t like how sassy and bossy JBJ is. (As if the books I did suggest you read - Ramona Quimby - didn't have their own brand of sassy and bossy ...) You did an amazing job as JBJ. Your facial expressions, body language, and natural flair for the dramatic all came together on stage. I smile nonstop (or cry - whatever, shut up, nobody asked you) when you perform.

Despite Daddy’s desire to keep you from getting any older, you keep growing up and getting more and more responsible. After dinner, you often clear our plates from the table without being asked, rinse them, and put them in the dishwasher. If you pass trash on the sidewalk, you always pick it up and throw it away. You clean up after yourself. You put things where they belong. 

Daddy and I see all those things (and others). We see you working hard. We see you doing a good job. We see you serving your family. We see you treating your brother kindly. We see you loving people by sharing your talent with them. We see you.

We see our strong, brave, smart, hilarious girl. We see our cautious, adventurous, creative, clever girl. We see our thoughtful, conscientious, expressive, sensitive girl. We see you. We see an amazing girl who God created so carefully and intentionally. 

You matter, my sweet love. You matter simply because of Whose you are. So while all those adjectives I just listed are 100% true, you would matter just the same if you were none of those. Your adjectives don’t make you any more loved, worthy, or important. You’re loved, worthy, and important because you’re His.

And Daddy and I consider it the highest privilege that He gave you to us.

Hugs and smooches,

Mommy & Daddy