To my 8? or maybe still 7 year-old on her birthday

Written October 24, 2022: We will celebrate your birthday with the five of us tomorrow, so for tonight, we had a special treat of munchkins to enjoy (knowing the cookie cake will come). I carefully arranged them into a 7, and then went searching for the 7 candle before I remembered that actually, you're turning 8. So I presented you with a 7 made of munchkins with a candle in the shape of an 8, as your getting older confuses me greatly. This school year has started out with the idea that two conflicting ideas can be true at the same time, and I sense being 8 years old in 2022 will bring questions that have two right answers as well. After all, you technically don't turn 8 until 9:59 p.m. (I think), so 7 munchkins was technically correct.

I see before me a strong, confident, athletic, loving, determined, sometimes sneaky and always empathetic kid. My sweet C will stand her ground and fall apart all within seconds sometimes. She loves her friends and wonders when everyone started using such adult language (and I wonder if maybe she's doing the same). On the soccer field she sees the game unfold and is the appointed corner kicker for her vision, and then as she runs toward the ball she'll back off when a teammate is closer. At home she wants her homework to come easier than it does and fights us on the writing, only to write a beautiful story after she's worked through all those hard emotions.

C, you exemplify why two things can be true at the same time, even when it creates disequilibrium. You keep me on my toes, you challenge my thinking, you encourage me to speak up for myself and to say this doesn't feel true enough. You remind me that all of us need a safe space to become unraveled from time to time because after we're unraveled we can weave together something even more beautiful. You inspire me and require me to take many, many deep breaths. I'm so proud to call you mine.

Happy 8th/maybe still 7th birthday to my sweet C. May you continue to fight the good fights as you invite the rest of us to do the same.