Teenager in the house!

This year we have two girls with “milestone” birthdays, up first is our oldest celebrating her 13th birthday, a true and official start of teenager life! As her birthday came up she was so excited! I was excited for her but also just had this I’m not ready feeling going on mixed with being excited for her too, it was a strange feeling, but ready or not our sweet little girl is growing up! I can now officially say we have a teenager in the house! It has been cool seeing her personality blossom over the years she really is a confident but sweet kid that is so driven in all the things she puts her mind to! She has always come up with ways to organize little pretend businesses and ideas she comes up with and such I’m curious to see what she does in the future but for now we will learn to navigate this teenage world and try to embrace the things she can and wants to do now.

One thing she had been asking about was when could she wear some make up and I told her a while back maybe when she is 13, well that came up quick and she knew to remind me that I once said maybe when you are 13, well it’s here now faster than I could have thought, so okay going into the 8th grade and 13 lets start with mascara. So as a mini happy birthday gift we are now allowing her to wear mascara and that made her day! Her big birthday gift this year was allowing her to redo her room the way she has been planning it out on her own for over a year, we painted it, got new side tables, a new vanity desk for her room, and some other decorations/must haves for storage. Needless to say she absolutely loves it and it turned out so pretty and cozy like a little retreat. She then got to have a couple friends over to stay the night and hang out in her newly redone room, with a choice of tacos for dinner and a Nothing But Bundt cake for dessert! Plus she found this soda we once tried in South Carolina called Cheerwine so we got a six pack of that to share with everyone, for those inquiring minds its kind of like a cherry soda. It’s kind of funny because I can specifically remember wanting a soda called Surge at one of my birthdays and how I remember that. I know we kind of build off experiences we had when we were kids to do for our own or those that we try not to repeat but there are a few cool things I can remember my parents doing for me so I try to do something like them but in my own way. When I turned 13 I can remember receiving this pajama shirt that was airbrushed with the numbers 13 and all things teenager written on them, it was silly but something I remember, so for my daughter I found these cute slightly embarrassing shirts for each of us which read Proud Mom/Dad of an Official Teenager, little sister got Proud sister etc… and teenager got the one saying You are looking at an official teenager with a big 13 on it, she wore it no hesitation I am pretty sure she is use to our shenanigans, but I love that she goes along with it for now. My parents would also print signs and post them around the house, for my kids I decorate doorways with streamers and balloons for them to wake up to which has gotten harder each year as they have gone to bed later and later and I have to wait until they have fallen asleep and then the task of not waking them in the process, cause when it comes to their birthdays we are all pretty much to excited to sleep! This year I thought about doing the signs around the house but thought maybe she would be disappointed not waking to her door decorated, so for now I shall continue on with that tradition.

I always want our girls to feel extra special when it comes to their birthdays as its a day just to celebrate them, our family and friends do a great job at making them feel special too, with a lot of their own traditions they have created over the years, we truly are lucky! With this year doing the room redo it was like a 3 week celebration getting everything done and doing all the things for her birthday I hope and think this is one that she will remember forever. Here is to the start of a new chapter in our lives with a teenager, wish us luck!😉😅❤