Happy 16th birthday Artist!

It’s amazing to me that you are 16. Slowly but surely you’re turning into an amazing young woman.

That’s not true, it hasn’t been this super slow thing. In reality it’s been fairly fast, at least it feels like that to me.

There’s a lot to admire about you

First, let’s talk the surface-level things.

You have found your own sense of style, and own it. You don’t really care if others want to wear that style. You like it, so you will.

You are confident in who you are, and are aware of your strengths and weaknesses. You speak up for yourself and what you believe in, and your needs.

But, that’s not all of who you are.

You reach out to those who need friends.

Your work with A at AHG is amazing. The fact that she wanted you at her party, when she could only choose a few people to come, speaks to how well you do interacting with younger kids.

Or the fact that you have a large collection of “minions” who all want to come talk to you, and aren’t there to solely talk to them.

You’ve worked to overcome some disappointments from this past year when you thought you had good friends who just dropped out of your life. Instead, you focused on what you could do.

Being a teen is hard.

Unlike your Mom, you work very hard to make sure you’re eating healthy and exercising regularly. It rather amuses me how aware of all of this you are. You constantly add particular vegetables and fruits to our grocery list so you can have a variety.

You continue to be interested in mental health and do research into how to help people.

Parenting you is fun

I constantly tell people parenting teens is fun.

It is certainly true with you. There are occasional moments of heartache, as there is with every teen, but I love being your Mom. You are awesome.

Happy birthday Artist!