Happy 11th Birthday, Maddie!

Dear Maddie,

Today you are 11 years old.  

 This will be the first family birthday that we celebrate during pandemic.  It’s a strange time.  Your class sang to you over a video conference call (“Zoom” is now less of a noun and more of a verb).  We are hoping to have a very small family party but there might not be hugs and we might not sit super close and some people might wear masks.  I ordered your gifts early in March and they have barely arrived.  There won’t be any birthday treats to school.  I won’t sit with you in the cafeteria for your birthday lunch.  It’s going to be strange.  But…it also feels good.  We trade all those things that were normal, for a new normal.  We trade it all for a slow, fun day with plenty of hours to fill with your favorite things.  No one says the word “busy” these days.  We have so much time to just spend with you.

You love to read books and watch movies.  You love a good story.  You are not just a consumer of stories, but you also write your own.  And they are fantastic.  You won an award again this year for one of your “Carl the Cupcake” stories.  It was so fun.  You have this special gift for seeing these little glimmering details that make your writing jump off the page.  You absolutely love to create.  You love to draw little cartoon characters and are still drawing cupcakes.  You love to paint and make little clay figurines.  This year you also won in a calendar contest.  You have an artistic eye and an attention to detail and when you tell me you want to be a graphic designer someday; I just nod easily. 

You love school and love to spend time with friends.  But sometimes relationships are hard because you strongly dislike drama.  Your heart might be a little too soft at times.  A wise friend told me once that whenever one of my kids struggled with something that I should not pray for God to remove that trial from their life – but instead I should pray that He would use it to shape them.  This is vastly easier to do the younger you are.  But I have noticed that because of some of the friend issues, you have learned to be a friend to all.  I’m not saying you’ve never said an unkind word or that you’ve never hurt someone’s feelings.  But from all accounts, the kids in your class genuinely like you and I don’t think there is a single person you can’t talk to.  You’re starting to get weird and silly about boys, but that’s another whole thing.  At any rate, I admire the kindness that you show to your classmates.

Strangely enough, your dislike for drama disappears at home and on the stage.  You had a main part in our church Christmas program, and you were great.  You can be super expressive.  At home, keeping the peace is not really your goal.  At home, you become a button pusher.  Girl, I love you, but you antagonize your little brother somethin’ fierce!  I know some of those moments are you just wanting attention.  We are learning together how you can ask better for what you need and how we can respond in ways that fill your love tank. 

We had a lot of fun this past year watching you fall in love with basketball.  When the season first began you were a little ambivalent.  But then something just happened.  You started working harder.  You practiced more.  You played at tournaments.  You are not the best player on the team, but you did so well.  And you absolutely loved it.  It was so fun to watch you do something you loved so deeply.  It was a blast to see you really bond with your teammates.  If basketball could have gone on longer that would have been okay with both of us.

This year you started playing flute and you love it.  You’ve taken ownership with that instrument and getting you to practice isn’t a battle.  The same cannot always be said for your piano playing.  I think you actually do like piano, but you don’t want to be badgered about it. 

Your Dad and I like to laugh that while you are not a messy child, you are what we affectionately call our “Put-er Down-er” – meaning you will carry random objects around the house and just set them down and walk away.  You don’t do this intentionally so it's still amusing.  But we find your random belongings all over the place all the time. 

Baking is still one of your great loves.  It’s pretty fabulous to be able to ask you to just make some bars or cookies or something and then watch you go at it.  I do hear a lot of “oops” and “uh-ohs” but so far, we have had no major baking catastrophes.

Another one of your great loves is babysitting, helping in the nursery or watching over your younger cousins.  You absolutely adore little kids.  You have this soft, quiet, gentle, easy way about you that makes them super comfortable around you.

You laugh a lot.  We have a really good time teasing you about certain boys in your class.  You take that ribbing really well, surprisingly.  However, we cannot tease your stuffed panda, or you will burst into INSTANT tears. 

You love Calico Critters, Aunt Amy, cupcakes, snuggling, legos, asparagus and pandas.  You are obsessed with Tauren Wells’ music.  You’re kinda flopsy when you walk and it's hilarious.  Your hair is a wild mess and a sight to behold in the morning and it is the reason we nicknamed you “fluffy”.  You straight up love blue jeans.  You’re just a whole lot of fun.

Over the past two months, we’ve been home.  With all this quarantine stuff we’ve been abruptly forced onto a new path.  We have played games, watched movies, done crafts, built giant forts, read aloud in the evenings, worshiped at our kitchen table, gotten creative with food and meals, and gone on countless walks.  As a family, we have never been closer.  It’s been a joy.  And I’ve noticed something about you.  You are so much happier.  There is a peace about you because I think this is what you really truly love – maybe what you really truly needed – time at home with the people you love.  You aren’t fighting for our attention or our time. 

As much as you need us, we need you.  This family needs your silliness and your laughter.  We need your baked treats and your colorful cartoons.  We need your teasing and your stories.  We need your big emotions and your soft heart.  God filled a gap we didn’t know we would have when he gave us you.  You are the sparkle in every day, and we are so very very thankful for your light.  I know Jesus is using you to spread joy to us and to the world around you.  I pray that you will always be that channel. 

Happy Birthday Maddie Grace! 

I love you so!

Love,

Mom