A Birthday Letter to My Easy Child.

Dear Jenna,

You celebrated your 7th birthday on May 11th and couldn't have been more excited.  You had an extensive countdown starting from a month out, picked out your birthday outfit a week in advance, and on Monday told us, "I wish it was Wednesday so my birthday would be the day after tomorrow."  When your birthday morning finally came, you stomped happily into our room at 6am and smiled broadly at us: your big day was finally here and you were going to enjoy every minute of it.

We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, you got dressed in your carefully planned outfit (white t shirt, white, pink and blue floral patterned skirt, white capri leggings, high jaunty ponytail) and headed off to school.  I came in at 10:30am, armed with your cupcakes decorated per your detailed instructions, and took pictures of the whole event.  You got picked up at school by Daddy, who had taken the day off, and then I brought you to yoga, which you adore.  You chose to have tacos for dinner, your favorite, and then we headed over to Gammie and PopPop's to open presents and have cake and ice cream.  All in all, a perfect day.

You had a great year, blooming in school and church into a more confident, outgoing girl.  You were by far my easiest child this year, always flying under the radar, rarely requiring any extra attention as we navigated through Alec's therapies and Michaela's impending tween-dom.  And thank goodness for that- you were just easy, smiling, growing (and growing and growing), doing your own thing and only reminding us occasionally that you needed a little extra love.

And usually that was at bedtime.  Bedtime is your Daily Challenge: you resist getting ready for bed, resist picking out pj's, resist brushing teeth, resist going potty, resist the whole darn thing.  Unfortunately, as you can imagine, and as I have told you dozens of times, bedtime is not my Strongest Parenting Time and I am frankly just worn out from the day.  I am trying to get this done and you in turn are trying to draw it out as long as possible.  So there we are, opposing strong forces, having our nightly showdown.  Luckily, I am The Mom, so I always win.  (And that's one of the very best things about being The Mom.)

You still love playing with your dolls for hours and hours in your room, spreading them all out, playing teacher with them, dressing and undressing them, and doing their hair.  You have let most of your baby dolls fall to the wayside, except for one here and there, and mostly just play with your American Girl dolls.  You got Marie Grace for Christmas this year and asked for Cecile, her best friend, for your birthday, which we happily gave you.  You love to dump out your Polly Pockets and play and then leave the dozens of Pollys and their funny little rubber clothes all over your floor.  A neat freak you are most definitely not.

You enjoyed lots of playdates this year with your good friends (who all seem to be named Emma) and made some great new friends in your class.  You liked your teacher and gave us faithful updates on her growing, pregnant belly.  Sometime around Christmas you told me that my stomach was just about the size of Mrs. Casey's, and I defensively told you that "Mommy is working on it!"  and that "Mommy had three babies, you know!"  and you seemed a little perplexed at why I reacted so strongly.  You did great in school, except for those darned timed Mad Math Minutes, which goes against every fiber of your mosey-ing personality.  But eventually it all clicked and now you even have those licked.  You became a Girl Scout and enjoyed every minute of being with your friends, doing projects and even marched in our town's Memorial Day Parade.  You have become fascinated with names and writing and I find slips of paper all over that has each family member's first, middle and last names written out, as well as your own name printed and in cursive.

Subtext is your strong point.  You have an amazing ability to ask around situations, looking for what is behind the obvious.  You are smart and quick and deep.  Very, very, very deep.  Your have a great sense of humor and it is truly a joy to watch you learn and grow.

So, my Easy Child, happy birthday.  We love you, as you like to say, "all the way to the sun and back a thousand times".  Thank you for being easy this year. 

Love, Mommy