Coming of age, the 10 year old version

"This is my last day as a kid. Tomorrow, I'll be a TWEEN!"

That's how Marianne greeted me yesterday morning, her last day in single digits.

I reject the term "tween" as an invention of the marketing people, the modern Mad Men. But I agree that this year marked a special little coming of age for Marianne. In addition to bumping up into double digits, she received a couple very exciting, once in a lifetime gifts.

First, as I mentioned the other day, she requested to get her ears pierced for her birthday. I had mine pierced younger, and Nathaniel and I have no hang ups with her taking this step at this time, so it was one of the easiest birthdays I've ever shopped for.

Honestly, I'm surprised by how much more grown up they make her look. I suppose I shouldn't be. I hate to leave the house without earrings; I feel like even small ones make a noticeable difference in my appearance. Of course they'd be noticeable on her as well.

We went to Claire's to have it done, and I was disappointed to realize there was only one gal working, so she wouldn't be able to have both ears pierced simultaneously. To make it even a little less fun, the first earring the woman inserted turned out not to be the one Marianne requested. It was a blue gemstone instead of white, in a mis-marked package. The gal actually said, "So, then... do you want to switch, or just keep this one?" Cause it's pretty much the same thing? Oy. I had to remove the first one, and then she inserted the correct earring into the hole, which she said wouldn't hurt at all, and based on Marianne's stoic but tense reaction, only hurt a little. Then she did the other, and that's when I thought, "These don't look right, either..." Turns out she got the wrong 4mm CZ studs. Who knew that being an ear piercer at Claire's could be so very complicated? Marianne decided she liked these just fine, and the price was the same, so no harm done. I was a little disappointed the salesgirl didn't offer us the blue ones for free, since she couldn't possibly reuse them once they were out of the factory packaging, but no such luck.

The second very special gift was from Andrew and Sherri.

As explained in the note Sherri included:

Dear Marianne - Happy 10th Birthday! This is the gift your great grandfather always gave on 10th birthdays and you're the first in your generation to get one!!!

Pop gave each of Nathaniel's siblings their own Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. He even left one in Sherri's keeping for Ellen before he passed away, as she was the only grandchild who had not yet turned 10. Nathaniel has plans to teach Marianne to carve soap and whittle sticks at the first opportunity, and she could not be more excited.

(Side note: I swear Peter is NOT picking his nose in this picture. Don't get me wrong, he totally picks his nose, but that's not what's happening here. He has a scab on his nose - see the pumpkin patch pictures to back me up - and he's picking the scab. Very different. Way less embarrassing.)

Marianne had a wonderful birthday, and is still looking forward to celebrating with friends next week, and with extended family the following weekend. She's living it up this year! She took treats to school and chose a restaurant for dinner tonight - Crave. Her only complaint was that she had too much homework to get done around all the fun stuff. Also, that choosing the restaurant was very stressful and "have you ever heard of peer pressure, Mom?" cause she didn't want anyone to be unhappy with her choice. The anxiety actually brought her to tears at one point. Okay, so the classification as a "tween" probably fits her more than I'd like to admit.

*****

A couple final notes for the non-existent memory book:

- Tonight, part of Marianne's homework was to finish a journal entry on the topic "Why I want to be a missionary". I assume this meant in the general sense that Pope Francis says we're all called to be missionaries. She couldn't think of a thing to say because her current plan for her life is to live in a cabin in some secluded woods with her friend, Julia. They'll do their best not to use power and they'll travel to civilization as seldom as possible. They'll have horses, and they'll farm. She's not opposed to marrying if she could meet a boy who was okay with this plan. When I told this to Nathaniel, he agreed that she appears to have chosen the one path in life that is totally non-missionary in nature, to be a hermit. I told her just to write up this plan and explain to her teacher how this keeps her from wanting to be a missionary, but that was too embarrassing a proposition. Instead, she admitted to some desire to travel the world before settling in the wilderness, so she wrote about that.

- There was a period of time during which I did not sing bedtime songs to Marianne and Ruth. Meg was going to bed before them, so I'd sing to her, and the older girls would tip toe up to bed when it was time. Now the girls all go to bed together again (although the older girls can stay up later reading if time allows), so they once again get their lullabies. I have no idea when this tradition will end. Marianne's favorite songs for the nights she chooses are "Gypsy", by Suzanne Vega (still! I've sung this to her since she was born, and she still calls it "Hold me like a Baby", just as she did when she first learned to talk), "Get out the Map", by the Indigo Girls (the girls love to sing along on this one, which often means it's not the most restful lullaby), and Dona Nobis Pacem. I love that they love for me to sing to them. That is bound to get VERY uncool, VERY soon.