My wonderful, strong, sassy, hilarious, confident middle child,

Your letter this year is coming a bit late this year, I hope you’ll forgive me. Life moves fast nowadays, and there is a lot of chaos in our house and in the world. I am so grateful for the way you impact our family. You are so helpful both at home and at school. You have strong math skills. You refuse to comply just because. You can be as stubborn, precise, and persistent as your mother and as goofy and unpredictable as your father. You ask so many good questions like “Why does spelling have to be so complicated? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God let people get sick? Can We learn Spanish together?” Occasionally when you don’t like something someone has said you growl at them, and I honestly hope this is a trait you keep because the world needs more women who will growl at nonsense instead of entertaining it.

This past year included growing in your swimming skills, running your first official trail race (with me! a favorite memory from last year!), playing the role of Mother Pig in the school play of “The Three Piggy Opera” as well as performing in some summer theatre camps. When your catechesis class sang carols for the church during Advent you wondered why other people didn’t “memorize their lines” even though you were told you could all hold your music during the singing. You also reprised your Taylor Swift time in the school talent show.

You still love Taylor Swift, but your new favorite music is the soundtrack to Wicked. You confident told us after the first time you watched it “I’m magical and awesome like Elphaba… only with all the friends Glinda has. I don’t know why they are setting it up like you have to be one or the other” and that really sums up your current view on life, something that has remained steady since the earliest open letters to you that I’ve shared with the world0 you embody the phrase “she can be both” and are not interested in being limited by other people’s opinions of you. Sometimes, this can exhaust your dad and I. But most of the time it makes us so proud. They say in general in our society that girls’ confidence plummets starting around age 8 so my wish for you this year is that you hold on to this confidence and that it remains genuine. I hope that you keep using that confidence to lift others up and call out when you see things that seem unfair or don’t make sense. I love how you use your voice AND you listen. You notice so much.

I love you so much and I learn so much from you. Thank you for all the at home “spa days” you treat me to after long runs. Thank you for being our resident fashion consultant. Thank you for carrying on my legacy of hot sauce on popcorn and begging for potatoes for breakfast. Thank you for standing your ground and standing up for others. Thank you for all the joy you bring to our home and the way that radiates outside our home.

I am wishing you an amazing time being 8 years old. I love you to the moon and to Saturn.

Mom