12 Reasons for Paley’s 12th
Entering into your 12th year is such a monumental step in a child’s life. This is the last year of your child years as you officially embark on the young adult years. Now for Paley, she’s been diving into those young adult years at an early age. She’s been reading at a young adult level since she was in third grade. Granted a few books with not so appropriate subject matter slipped through our hands here and there. I even bought a book for Clem at xmas 2018, that had a pink cover and as time progressed. Clem ended up putting the book in Paley’s room. She made it through half of the book and came to us asking, were they pretty sure she was supposed to read the book. I freaked, saying that’s not yours, it’s dad’s. A big oops! Thankfully sexual literature isn’t as graphic as watching a porn movie. To celebrate this new chapter, I’ve put together a list of where she is now at the start of 12.
Tale’s Alive: She’s is the most imaginative soul you will ever meet. Finally after years of asking her to write her tale’s and adventures down, she’s finally seeing her writing blossoms the more she works on it. I suspect with 12 under arms she will blossom.
Reading is Everywhere: A consummate page turner, figuratively and literally. The girl reads everywhere, trains, ferry lines, parks, beaches, swings, you name it and she’s read here. I see new place to reading the tea leaves for 12.
Books are her everything: One to enjoy, two to delve, three to devour, four to fathom, five to unravel, six to nosedive and so many more adjectives.
Not ready to grow up to fast: Fast is where we are getting with 12 year old. The body changes whether we would like it to or not. I think I am ready for the change, we are already seeing little changes while each month past. One thing I noticed is how her legs have changed so much in a year. She’s certainly taller but little girl legs are long gone. The beauty of the change is a welcomed with opened arms.
Family Always: One thing that has developed from the shelter in place is her love of family. She spent the first three weeks enjoying family and sibling time and absent an interest to connecting with friends. She had no issue, between at home education and time with her siblings, she was swamped.
From Unicorn to Alicorn: What’s an Alicorn you ask, according to our 12 year old “a horse that has a horn and has wings, or pegasus with a horn, but then there is Unimin, a human with a horn, wings, rainbow hair and rainbow tail. You get the drift.” Imagination.
Yellow is dead, bring on the Pink: Gone are the days when yellow was top dog, pink now reigns supreme.
Stage or not to stage: Independence from camp really does continue past those summer months, and now she’s spreading that independence into what she does on stage. Two years ago she voiced her opinions but now she stands her ground.
Prints and more Prints: Her love of matching prints has continued to flourish in her tween years. She’s starting to grasp the idea of editing more with her pairings. I’ve decided 12 is good age for her to finally read D.V.
Shelter Writing Birth: All through elementary school Paley’s writing was always a strong suit. Sadly after years of trying to foster it at home, we seemed to hit a wall. I setup a OutSchool writing class for her recently and she fell in love. I also think the daily journaling had a small part to it as well.
Harry Potter or Die: One thing is evident, Harry Potter is for life. Affinity for all things potter will never die, well who am I kidding, I love it just as much but hands down in a trivial potter game, she would win hands down. Sadly she was scheduled to see Harry Potter and the cursed Child for a third time. It’s now be rescheduled for August or September.
Just talking here, move along: One thing that has blossomed over the years is our ability to just sit down and chat. And in these crazy times of uncertainty, being able to just talk is the best thing ever as a parent or even a tween. We truly light up when there are moments of joy or even sadness, as these times have shown us.
Twelve is my favorite number, I am hoping 12 is kinder than 11. Friendships had it’s hurdles in 11 and hoping 12 is a little easier. And no, I am not talking about my kids friendships!~ Mine you silly goose! All in all 11 was a milestone with the transition from Elementary to Middle school. When she turned 11 she was very ready and excited for the move to middle school. We talked about why and it had nothing to do with the environment, what I found out was she was ready for a bigger challenge in school. That and she was also excited for elective classes. Although this whole system of the school selecting your electives in middle school was met with a pensive, this sucks look, by P and her two dads!
Paley will be starting twelve off with quite a bang at home. Then moving into the summer, she will embark on 3 weeks of away-camp. 3 weeks of not seeing her! I am going to be a wreck. Her ability to communicate is amazing but event 11 or 12 we all have our struggles. Lets just say, it’s 10 times better than 7. Her passion to learn new things, cultures is amazing but right now her key interest is in Interior Decorating. I think all this talk about remodeling the house is kind of peer pressure. I’m actually going to have her take a Master Class with one of my all time favorite designers, Kelly Werstler.
For now, I just hope she continues coast along during this crazy time of sheltering. I think all kids and adults are processing times like this differently. Paley herself has been adjusting to the change pretty smoothly. Over the years in elementary school, change was hard. We tried our best as parents to be there for her and figure out how to cope and adjust without anxiety. Some of her friends helped her along, while some pointed out to others how emotional she would get. A lot parents like to say “girls are mean” and I am here to say not but a good check of them are mean. Even the one’s you think are your friends. In short, we’ve taught our kids, they are in special little group of people that many think of are not apart of a normal family. With that comes attitude and judgement. We tell them, those are two things you can never change in a person. All you can do is stand by your truth and just move onto another friend. There is always another friend who is kinder. Sadly peer pressure is hard!
Paley has physically grown, pretty fast over the past 7 years, and with middle school, she’s found her voice and even made decisions on her own when it comes to school and friendships. We as parents may freak out when things like this change, but we are keep to standing by her decisions and make sure we are there if she needs to talk or get guidance. The key we have found, is let her come to us. We may notice things and want to talk about it right away but patience is best practiced by parents in their kids lives. Another important part of that equation is just listening. Paley’s never been the kind of kid to brag or spill gossip. Most times she comes to us when she feels conflicted about a incident or conversation. We’ve learned over the years, just listening to what happening is far more important, rather than analyzing the origin of the problem or concern.
Paley was concerned about her birthday being in the middle of this chaos of sheltering. Many a night we could see it was effecting her emotionally. We have so many little treats planned for her on her special day. I truly feel for all the kids who had to celebrate are going to need a half birthday celebration when all is said and done. Sadly for Paley, her half birthday is 2 days shy of the twins birthday, so that won’t work. We are planning on making one week over the summer her birthday weekend and letter her celebrate with her friends. For now, Happy Birthday Paley!!!!!
