Happy 14th Birthday, Matilda!

Dear Matilda,

Today you turn 14 years old! Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet girl!! Here are some things I would like to remember about you when you turned 14 and some things you might like to know about your 14 year old self…….

You love orange chicken from Panda Express and LOVE to eat with chopsticks.
You are still playing percussion in the school band. You play drum set in jazz band and all sorts of percussion instruments in regular band. You auditioned for the high school drum line and got in so you will be playing in the high school marching band next year. You are SO excited!
You love theatre and acting. You did the school play again this year in junior high. For your birthday, you received several different books of monologues so you can continue to work on your craft.
You are SO smart. You are in all accelerated classes and are planning to take an AP class next year as a freshman in high school. You were on high honor roll throughout all of junior high.
You have your own small jazz band that you started this summer. You call it a “jazz combo”….. I call it a band. You are playing piano in the band. It has 8 other jazz musicians and you guys just played your first jazz open mic last month. The band doesn’t have a name. When we ask you the band’s name, you say “I don’t know” so Daddy named the band IDK…..you find that super annoying.
You have lots of friends. You like to hang out with them and ride your bike to the park. Some of your close girl friends are Addie, Scarlet, Mary Beth and Maggie.
You wanted to celebrate your birthday early this year and took 3 friends to the Lakeside Festival and had a great time all hanging out together.
You do not like to spend money. You like to use things until they are falling apart. You do not believe in excess and spending on unnecessary things. I have been begging you to let me buy you new shoes for months (since they had giant holes in the toes). You finally got two new pairs of shoes when we were in Texas….hooray!
You love to sing. You sang again with the school jazz band. You were the only singer and you sang “Feeling Good”. I love watching you perform. And I really love hearing you sing (at the top of your lungs) in the shower.
You are going to be a PA at Girl Scout camp this summer. You love working with the younger Girl Scouts and they love you! This was your last year of Girl Scouts, but you hope to continue to get to assist at camp.
You love mushrooms. You have lots of mushroom decor and love to wear your mushroom shirt.
You love Boba tea. You like to get milky mango with mango boba. It’s your favorite special treat.
You are great in the kitchen. You can use the oven and stove like a pro. You do a great job following recipes and love to bake!
As a special surprise for your birthday this year, Grandma Jane got us tickets to see Wicked when we were in Houston, TX this last week. We had a girls day and you, Grandma Jane and I went out to a nice dinner and got to see the show. You absolutely loved it!
You are very artsy and crafty. You like making bracelets for people and painting.
You are an incredibly open-minded and kind person. You embrace everyone and are always one to stick up for someone who might be viewed as different. You are a very compassionate soul.
You love younger kids. I wonder if you’ll end up doing something involving teaching? The younger band kids always gravitate to you and I call them the “Matilda Jane Fan Club”.
You are still a pretty picky eater. I think that you’ll come around in the next few years, but for now you are pretty basic…..chicken, burgers and pizza are your go-to meals.
This year at school you participated in ‘Scholastic Bowl’ where you competed trivia against other schools. You really enjoyed being involved in that and got to attend one of the invite only tournaments.
You also participated in cross country and track this past year in school. You don’t plan to continue those two sports in high school because you will be very busy with band, choir and theatre. But you had fun giving that a try the last two years!

Matilda, you are truly one of the kindest, smartest and most talented people that I know! You are our most complex kid and you feel and think deeply about so many things in the world. You are a watcher/observer and think very carefully about what you say and do. You make me view the world in a different way and I could not be more proud to be your mother. I hope you have the best birthday EVER! Happy 14th birthday sweet girl!!