Dear Matilda,
Today you are 16 years old! Happy Birthday sweet girl. I hope you have the most amazing day today! Here are some things I would like to remember about you when you turned 16 years old and here are some things you might like to know about your 16 year old self…..
- You still play percussion in the school band and marching band. This next year you will be playing the quad drums in the marching band. You love your band director and band friends so much!
- You are still in choir. You auditioned and made the top choir in school (there is another one that meets after school, but you didn’t audition for that one). You also had some really nice solos in the choir concerts this last year. Everyone is always impressed by your singing.
- You were in the high school musical this past year (Anastasia) as an ensemble member. You are hoping that maybe you will be eligible for a little bigger role this next year since you will be a junior.
- You were selected to be a Pack Leader for the high school this year. In August you will help the new freshman find their classes and lead some orientation groups. You will be fantastic at this because younger students always adore you.
- You got really great grades this last year. I had to stay on top of you during your freshman year, but during your sophomore year, it was ALL you. I was so proud of your organization, determination and hard work in making sure you got the best grades possible.
- You have a beta fish named ‘Linus’. He is missing part of one of his fins, but you love him so much!
- You are still a Girl Scout. You aren’t part of a troupe anymore so you are a ‘Juliette’, but you had a great time being a PA volunteer at a Girl Scout day camp this year. You had a 5th grade group and those girls loved you SO much.
- You LOVE music. Like love, love, love music! You are always listening to something. You have really cool music taste. You and Daddy are going to the ‘The Crane Wives’ concert later this month in Chicago and you can’t wait. You don’t care if others are listening to the same music, you like what you like. You and Daddy have bonded over some of his old school punk music which is fun for both of you.
- You really like musicals. You also find really obscure, interesting musicals to share with me, which I love. You love singing songs for me from those musicals.
- You are still taking private voice lessons. This year you will perform in your voice studios’ cabaret. We are excited to see you and the other vocal students perform.
- You are still one of our pickiest eaters. You like very basic stuff like pizza, chicken nuggets/strips, burgers, fries etc.
- You will not drink anything that has caffeine. Sprite is your soda of choice.
- You love your friends. Some of your best friends right now are Greta, Linnaeah, Morgan, Scarlet, Addy, Ella, Brecken and Jacob.
- For your birthday celebration, you are going to the beach with five of your girlfriends and then coming back to our house for pizza and a fire in the fire pit with s’mores. You planned exactly what you wanted to do and made the plans with your friends.
- You were inducted into the International Thespian Society this year and are still part of the Music Honor Society (Tri-M).
- You are very happy that your older sister is moving to NYC in a month. You have never had your own room and you can’t wait to have it all to yourself. You and your sister are complete opposites and get on each others nerves. I’m hoping that absence makes the heart grow fonder? But we’ll see.
- You don’t like to be wasteful or have excess. You like to have just enough but never too much. You don’t like when I try to get you to buy more shoes or other variations of things that you already have that work just fine. You will use and wear things until they are falling apart. You are extremely practical.
- You have a very defined sense of style. You love earthy colors as well as plaid. You are probably the easiest one to shop for because you have a specific vibe. I love that you are true to yourself in that way. I feel like I was constantly trying to find my style in high school, but you know your style 100%.
- You don’t like sharing silverware or drinking glasses with the rest of the family. It’s kind of odd, but I think it’s an OCD germ thing. So you have your own silverware and we got you several of your own drinking glasses this year for your birthday.
- You want to be an elementary music teacher when you grow up. You want to be the reason kids love music. I think you will be amazing and will inspire so many!
Matilda Jane, I cannot believe you are 16 years old! There are so many things about you that I admire. You are kind, a good friend, really unique, cool, artsy, smart, funny, talented and beautiful. You know who you are and you don’t try to be like anyone else. I can’t imagine this world without you. The world needs more people like you. You bring such a wonderfully different way of thinking to our family and I’m so grateful you are mine. Happy sweet 16!!
I love you from here to the moon and back again!
Love,
Mama