And, she's nine! - Suburban Shalom

Dear 3rd Grader,

Over the weekend you turned 9 years old. Just as you’re in the middle of our family in terms of birth order, you’re also in the middle of your elementary years now. I’d like for this train to slow down a bit, but since that isn’t going to happen I’ll just have to make note of some of my favorite things about you here and reminisce about how far you’ve come in nine years.

I imagine it’s tricky living in between two siblings of the same gender. Your big sister is a trailblazer and a leader {read: bossy}; your younger sister is a risk-taker and something of a wild card. You and the 5th Grader are so close in age that it probably feels like you live in her shadow sometimes. And, the Kindergartener wants so badly to do everything you do but on her own terms and in her own way.

It seems like just yesterday when you were still at home with me all day dealing with some of the sibling troubles of which I speak. The youngest one has long made it her mission to bother you because she LOVES the rise she gets out of you when she does so.

She stole your markers and crayons:

She messed up your baby dolls and stuffed animals:

And, paid the price for doing so:

She rearranged your puzzle pieces:

She sat in the middle of your artwork:

She threw your picnic {the one you had so carefully set up to surprise me} into her diaper changer:

That was major.

Yet, you’ve always been able to find it in your heart to forgive and forget and move on:

You put up with a lot around here, and I’m proud of you for being mostly patient and peace-making.

You and I share a hot temper and a tendency to be obsessive about things. Also like me, your fears are big and real and you worry about everything from coming in contact with stomach virus germs at school to volcanic eruptions on the other side of the world. More like your Dad, though, you are not afraid to be who you are and share what you think. Just today you asked me to come to your lunch at school, but you made sure to give me these instructions, “If you can, wear your hair down and make it curly.”

Apparently you’d rather not be see at lunch with anyone wearing yoga pants and a ball cap.

So, today, I happily obliged you. And, hopefully I didn’t embarrass you. After all, you’ve always been a very refined lunch date.

We love you big, 3rd Grader. Here’s to a happy and peaceful ninth year!

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