Ode to Kate on Your Golden Eighth Birthday

Dear Kate,

I don't know how it happened, but this morning, we woke up and you were a full fledged, bonafide, beautiful, full of life 8-year old not so-little girl.

In every way, I love you.

You exemplify what it means to be a sweet, sassy fairy princess who lives to read books about dragons and to paint colorful Hummingbirds all while you battle Nerf guns with your older brother and teach your younger sister how to write her name.

You are spunky and everyday and twice on Tuesday can hold your own.  You're not afraid to speak your mind particularly, when you're defending the under dog or advocating on someone's behalf.

Absolutely different from me, you live smack dab in the moment taking in the color of the grass and the sadness of the world and the joy in your heart and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything will be okay.

You abhor red meat and adore virtually every fruit and vegetable especially, edamame and cucumbers.  Lover of granola and grapenuts and glitter and tempura paint and canvases and diaries with locks on them and saying Hail Mary's when ambulances drive by...you are more amazing than you know.

Days ago, you selected a super cool pair of sparkly purple spectacles to serve as your inaugural pair  and when I see you in them, well, it takes my breath away.  You're so grown up...

In a few weeks, you'll begin third grade and inevitably, the world will open even more...your interests will vary, your ideas will develop, your heart will swell and break and the things you knew to be true may shift as is bound to happen when you add another birthday to your beautiful life.

So just for a little bit longer, I say thank you....thank you for letting me make Pippy Longstocking braids in your mane, indulging my love of mismatched dresses and tights, calling you pet names like "Cat-uh-lone-ay" and "Kate-girl," reading to you the same stories over and over again because the main character is a super hero girl who saves the world and for accepting my OCD, crazy mama ways all in the name of love.

It's hard to capture in words all of the things that I want for you.  And so I've decided to encourage you to keep on keepin on...because really, you're doing such a great job of living a life on purpose.  Keep loving those who seem unloveable.  Keep painting a world of color and dreaming of places where magic, princesses, dragons and sorcerers create the unexpected.  Keep using your gifts to make others smile, laugh and feel connected to one another.

On this day, your Golden 8th birthday, may you be reminded of what a gift you are to our family, how much we adore every part of you and how excited we are to see what the new year brings.  Fasten your seat belt...I think you're going to love every minute.

xoxo, Mama

Ode to Kate on Her Sixth Birthday

Today we celebrated your sixth birthday with homemade fairy wings, pixie dust, painted toe nails, giggling girl friends, cupcakes, punch and chocolate milk...and your papa and I were in Heaven watching you flit around as the beautiful fairy princess you are.

For so many reasons, I love you, Kate. 

When I look into your eyes, I see the purest parts of all that is beautiful, available, and connected in the world.  Different than me, you live smack dab in the present.  You inhabit the right part of your brain completely and when the sunshine and wind hit your arms, you move them through the air to feel your body in space.  When you're painting, you swoosh the brush and splat the paint pretending that you're Jackson Pollock, but only better.  And when you're reading, you do all of the voices and pause for affect while waiting for your audience to notice the moment.

You remind me that life is a gift and that our only job is to look around and take it all in.  You teach me how to be more and more open with greater vulnerability...to let down my guard and to try to seek experience rather than perfection.

You hug me and tell me that you love me to the moon and back a gazillion times and when I repeat the same, you retort, I guess we love each other so, so, so, so much and that's a good thing.

In a few short weeks, you'll start first grade and for the first time, you will be away from me more hours during the day than you ever have before.  How is that possible?  Where did the time go? 

Watching the countless ways that you socialize at the pool, on the playground, and in line at the local Target store, I have no doubt that you're more than ready to be in school all day....it's just that I'll miss you.  I'll miss watching you draw, listening to you negotiate with your sister, making your grilled cheese with the crusts cut off, encouraging you to take just one more nap so that I can snuggle next to you, braiding your hair before you put your ballet slippers on, and singing "You Are My Sunshine," while you dance in the living room.

But as you grow, which inevitably you will just keep doing, I pray that you'll continue to be courageous.  Have a heart that trusts and loves even when there are no guarantees.  Believe that at the core of it, people are good and give your friends the benefit of the doubt.  Be patient with papa, you are his first daughter and will always be his little princess, so don't plan to wear a bikini well for forever.  Know that we love you more than any ode could ever convey and that we hope this next year will bring you more joy, adventure, big love, and blessings than you can imagine.

Happy Sixth Birthday, Kate....love, Mama