House of Estrogen

Letter to Nina, Age 11-ish

Dear Nina,

I seem to have completely dropped the ball on writing letters to any of you on or near your birthdays. In the grand scheme of things though, it really shouldn't matter when I write these letters, as long as I write them once a year or so. At least I like to tell myself that.  That said, you had a big milestone this week, so what better time to write a letter!  Tuesday, you graduated from elementary school.

 

(First day of kindergarten picture)

You couldn't be more ready for middle school. At 5'7, you are now taller than every elementary school teacher you've had over the past six years. Not only have you physically outgrown the pint-sized chairs and desks, I think you have mentally moved beyond it and have just been ready for this chapter to come to a close.

 

After the ceremony, as friends in your class shed tears about their last day at the school and posed for pictures with every classmate, you eagerly held on to your diploma and exclaimed, "Can we leave now?"

 
It wasn't that you didn't enjoy your time there or aren't going to miss your friends who will be attending different middle schools. You had many happy years there and will definitely miss certain friends. You are ready to move forward though. You have seen what a great experience middle school has been for Elise, and you are excited about this next stage in life. You are ready for new friends, new challenges, and new experiences in a new school. For some of your friends, graduation day was an emotional day filled with sad goodbyes, reminders of elementary school memories and a slide show that tugged at their heartstrings. For you, it was simply the last hurdle to cross on the way to the finish line.

I am excited for you. I love that you are open to the new adventures that await you in middle school. As you love tell anyone who mentions middle school electives, your parents are making you take band next year. You love to point out what cruel parents we are to force this on you, but secretly, I think you may actually be looking forward to participating in band. You are such a music loving soul. You love to listen to music, find new songs on iTunes, and you thoroughly enjoyed playing the recorder in music class. Your one and only aversion to band is the stage appearance twice a year for the concerts. Your dad and I are taking the "we know what's best for you" role on this one. I predict that you will love it. Band has been such a positive part of middle school for Elise - the fun, the music, the band director, the friends, and the performances. We are hoping for a similar experience for you, and I think the many pros of band outweigh the cons of a little stage fright twice a year. How it all plays out remains to be seen though. We have assured you that if you hate it, you can drop out after the first year.

Right now, your major love is volleyball. You play any chance you get. Your goal is to be a manager for the middle school volleyball team in 6th grade and then play on the team in 7th and 8th. I think it is great that you've found a sport that you love. It is definitely a good fit for you.

 

Like band, volleyball was another activity we "forced" you to do. About a year ago, you had become rather sedentary. There weren't any activities, hobbies, or sports that interested you. We told you that you needed to choose something to do outside of school or we were going to choose something for you. You never made a selection, so without even asking you, I signed you up for volleyball. I didn't necessarily think you would love it. I wasn't even sure if you would like it. I just wanted you try something new. Of course, there was also that little overly optimistic voice in my head that said, "She has the height for volleyball... maybe she will love it, get really good at it, and get a scholarship." We are all allowed those pie in the sky parental dreams occasionally, right?

You played in a fall league for the team with the most losing record in the league. You lost every regular season game, but it hooked you. You had the time of your life. Last week, you started playing for a new summer league team which encompasses an older age group and higher skill level. I think you will grow and learn a lot as a player in this league. You plan to play in the fall again too. Volleyball has been great for you. It gives you a focus, an identity, a team spirit, and a great outlet for blowing off steam and getting some exercise.

Your other big interest lately has been sewing. You received a sewing machine for Christmas and have spent many hours designing, creating, and sewing. I think you enjoy the design aspect best. You are going to a week of fashion design camp this summer, and I'm anxious to see what you learn there. You have taken to doing a lot of "upcycling" - taking old worn out, outgrown, or out of style items from our closets and upcycling them into something new. This is one of your upcycled t-shirt creations.

 

I feel like this has been a big year for you... you have grown a lot, matured a lot, and really turned into the middle schooler that you soon will be. You have taken on more chores around the house and more responsibilities for taking care of yourself. If I need help putting Addie to bed or making her lunch, you jump right in. Of course, with this new tween maturity, we sometimes get the tween attitude as well. You have perfected a grimace that I have interpreted as a cross between, "I hate you", "You are the meanest parent ever", and "This is my evil look". Your glare with those piercing eyes can be a bit disconcerting. I'm hoping it is just a phase. Fortunately, you don't use it on us too frequently.

This coming year will bring a new school, new adventures, new friends, and lots of change. You seem wholeheartedly prepared and ready to tackle all of it though. And that... that is awesome.

I love you, Nina!

Love,

Mama

 

 

 

Midweek Brain Dump

I feel like there are all these odds and ends going on that I should blog about, but my brain can't catch up. Lots of things are happening. A lot is on my mind, but between chasing sleep deprivation, my decaffeination continuing, and J.C. out of town, I don't think a coherent blog post is going to happen any time soon. Thus, the midweek brain dump.

• Nina had oral surgery on Tuesday. I don't think I slept at all Sunday or Monday night in anticipation. She had two baby teeth extracted and two permanent teeth extracted. That was the easy part of the surgery. The awful part that haunted me at night was the tooth exposure she needed. I'll spare you a graphic photo of her mouth and show you this model of the procedure instead.

She now has that freaky little gold chain coming out from her gums to pull her tooth down in the right direction. It sounded barbaric and painful, but she weathered the surgery much better than anticipated. She can't eat much yet, but otherwise, she is fine. I'm still recovering.

• Did you know that tea bags are good for stopping bleeding? Now you know.
  

• Elise had her first experience with playing in pep band at a middle school football game... a fun first.
• My friend Allison Tate wrote an excellent essay in the Washington Post this week. She is such a great writer and always nails her topics. Way to go Allison!  Go read it. Parenting as a Gen Xer: We're the first generation of parents in the age of iEverything
• Ebola - holy crap. 
• I moved to a new office building this week. It is cool, posh, and modern, but moving is never much fun. Also, my new building doesn't have a Starbuck's like my old one did. That's a problem.
  
• I upgraded to iOS8... turns out it isn't recommended for the iPhone 4S. My phone now rivals a paperweight in its usefulness. Good times.
• We went out to Noodles & Company this week. We looked at the menu, and Addison said, "I want barf." As her sisters laughed, she got angry and indignant and said, "That's what I order here. I order the barf."  More giggling ensued. Finally Nina recognized Addie's error and saved the day when she said, "Addie - you like the BROTH! Not BARF!"  I'll never be able to look at broth the same way again.
• This is closing weekend for downhill biking at Snowshoe. Can I get an Amen?

Holidays are in da House!

We are in full-on holiday mode here. The kids are out of school for the month, report cards have come home, and we are DONE.WITH.HOMEWORK for the year. Done. Having the month of December off of school has to be one of the greatest perks of year-round school. We can enjoy holiday parties, weeknight shopping, and Christmas TV specials without homework and school bedtimes interfering. Being done with school also means that we have a month of not having to face the school bus driver at the end of the day to hear her report about our little kindergarten school bus bully. <Sigh> Apparently one of Addison's quotes on the last day of school was, "I'm going to kick the poo out of your vagina." Nice. If she doesn't get kicked off the bus before the end of the school year, it is going to be a miracle. Yes, a month off of school is something we all desperately needed.

Back to holiday mode... our trees are up.

The stockings are hung, and the folk art Santas are chilling on the mantle.

We have finished up the school holiday parties,

made Christmas trees at holiday camp,

and attended the holiday mini-build at the LEGO store.

Elise has performed in her holiday band concert. (As a side note, you can see her braces are in the holiday spirit as well with red and green rubber bands.)

Addison has done rounds at a rehab center with her Daisy troop, singing songs, and doling out homemade ornaments. When I asked her how it went, she said, "Two people didn't have any legs, and one person was missing all their fingers."  I'm just picturing this entire troop of girls staring at injuries, completely forgetting to sing. I hope they didn't traumatize any of the patients too much. (For any of you fashionistas taking note... yes, she is wearing Oilily with cowboy boots. That's how she rolls.)

I have purchased mint chips and red and green m&m's under the guise of baking. We'll see if any baking actually occurs. Buying supplies is the first step though, right?

I haven't put up any outdoor lights yet, but I'm contemplating skipping them this year. If I consciously make the decision to forgo outdoor lighting, then I can say that job is done. I'm kind of liking that plan.

All in all, the holiday spirit has definitely taken over here at the House of Estrogen. Holidays are IN DA HOUSE!