I’m writing this post late….again! Ava turned 15 more than 3 months ago. This year she wanted us to redecorate her room. She spent a lot of time in the months before her birthday looking at pictures and stuff online to get ideas. We have a friend who is an interior designer even offer to take us to her favorite paint shop and find the best colors for her walls! We made wish lists for all the stuff, and when the big day finally came, her aunt, grandparents, and parents got to work putting it all together. She now has a much more grown up space that better reflects who she has become. She has a great eye for “aesthetics” (she would hate that I used that word!) and knows how to make things pretty. We also celebrated by taking 3 of her good friends to the Fiesta Texas theme park in San Antonio. They got to do their own thing riding roller coasters and using my credit card to buy lots of food!
She has some great friends, which I am so very thankful for. Our kids get to an age when they want to choose their own friends. That age came A LONG TIME AGO for my kids. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath waiting for one or both of them to choose friends that I don’t like. Ava is wise and thoughtful about who she spends time with. She might initially be attracted to a kid for the wrong reasons, but is quick to figure out who her real friends are. I tend to like them a lot! She is very wise and mature in so many ways, but she is also still playful and silly. Ava complains that kids at lunch spend too much time just talking or looking at their phones. She would honestly love to play tag or frisbee or DO something!
She loves to shop for clothes and knick-knacks more than just about anything. She loves thrift stores and the mall alike. We sometimes disagree about how much shopping is too much, but otherwise we get along pretty well. I’m thrilled that I still truly enjoy spending time with my teenager. It’s not just because she’s my kid and I’m supposed to. She’s just plain delightful. I’m such a lucky mom.
We finished watching The Office together and she’s a super fan. She even listens fanatically to a podcast about the show! Our new favorite show is Parks and Recreation. We really do like so many of the same things. We find plenty to talk about, and bedtime snuggles are still a MUST.
She cleans her own room, does her own laundry, and is now even doing the yardwork! She is a great babysitter and petsitter to many of our neighbors, and has even taken a job as an assistant at the martial arts camps hosted by her martial arts school. She will be starting a real steady job this summer working at a dog kennel. She is still very much a dog lover although she’s not as obsessed as she used to be.
She’s so funny although she doesn’t believe me, and she’s still a great writer. She still loves to paint and create art, and I’m hoping she’ll finally get to take a real art class at her new high school. Her school is wonderful. She has made a lot of good friends, and really enjoys so many of her classes and teachers. This is her first year to have grades. At first, she thought it was really fun and exciting, but the excitement is starting to wear off. Even so, she may finish the year with straight A’s! She’s hoping to join the cross country running team next year. We found out recently that Ava has scoliosis, but as long as some physical therapy can help making running safe and comfortable for her, she’ll be able to do that.
She’s wonderful, but not perfect! She can be a grumpy teen big sister and gets easily annoyed with her little brother. She can definitely be spacey sometimes, forgetting about plans or where she put something. Most of the time, she loses things only to recover them just a little later.
My wish for her is that she is able to see how lovely and strong and magnetic she is. I love how thoughtful and considerate she is, but I also want her to know that people like her just the way she is, and that she should always be herself without second guessing. I don’t miss being a teenager because of all of the self-doubt and insecurity. I can’t decide if I’d like to keep her close just the way she is right now, or if I can’t wait to see what she will do next! I guess parenting doesn’t change all that much as they age after all.
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